A seat assembly, a multi-passenger vehicle, and a method for attaching seats to a floor of a vehicle that employ an electromagnetic coupling between the seats and the floor. A power supply supplies electricity to the electromagnetic coupling to secure the seats to the floor and is turned off to release the seats from the floor without tools or workers bending down below the seats to remove coupling devices. The seats can therefore be readily repositioned or rearranged to adjust the spacing between the seats. Resident induction coupling is included between the floor of the vehicle and the seats to provide wireless power to the seats.

A detachable seat wireless power transfer and communication system includes: a seat assembly including a seat receiver configured to receive power wirelessly and a seat controller to control the seat receiver; a vehicle assembly spaced apart from the seat assembly at a lower end of the seat assembly; a front hook spaced apart from the seat assembly at a lower end of a front portion of the seat assembly in a length direction to fix a first end of the seat assembly to a vehicle body; a rear latch spaced apart from the seat assembly at a lower end of a rear portion of the seat assembly in the length direction to fix a second end of the seat assembly to the vehicle body; and a front hook switch spaced apart from the vehicle assembly. The vehicle assembly includes a vehicle transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit the power to the seat assembly, and a vehicle controller configured to control the vehicle transmitter.

A detachable seat wireless power transfer and communication system includes: a seat assembly including a seat receiver configured to receive power wirelessly and a seat controller to control the seat receiver; a vehicle assembly spaced apart from the seat assembly at a lower end of the seat assembly; a front hook spaced apart from the seat assembly at a lower end of a front portion of the seat assembly in a length direction to fix a first end of the seat assembly to a vehicle body; a rear latch spaced apart from the seat assembly at a lower end of a rear portion of the seat assembly in the length direction to fix a second end of the seat assembly to the vehicle body; and a front hook switch spaced apart from the vehicle assembly. The vehicle assembly includes a vehicle transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit the power to the seat assembly, and a vehicle controller configured to control the vehicle transmitter.

A seat assembly, a multi-passenger vehicle, and a method for attaching seats to a floor of a vehicle that employ an electromagnetic coupling between the seats and the floor. A power supply supplies electricity to the electromagnetic coupling to secure the seats to the floor and is turned off to release the seats from the floor without tools or workers bending down below the seats to remove coupling devices. The seats can therefore be readily repositioned or rearranged to adjust the spacing between the seats. Resident induction coupling is included between the floor of the vehicle and the seats to provide wireless power to the seats.

A vehicle occupant detection system includes at least one weight sensing pad, at least one infrared sensor, and at least one motion sensor disposed within an automobile. Each of the at least one weight sensing pad, the at least one infrared sensor, and the at least one motion sensor is in operational communication with each of a battery and a computer system of the automobile. The computer system is configured to activate at least one of a horn, an alarm, an engine, at least one power window, a wireless communication with a remotely disposed fob, a wireless text communication with a remotely disposed personal electronic device, and a cellular communication with an emergency responder when at least one of the at least one infrared sensor, the at least one of the weight sensing pad, and the at least one motion sensor detects a passenger disposed within the vehicle.

A system and method for remote control of a passenger control unit (PCU) via a mobile communications device includes a wireless controller and receiver installed between the PCU and a PCU control module connected to actuators for seats and other peripheral devices. The wireless controller includes a set of contacts mapped to a matrix of switches within the PCU. The wireless receiver receives a contact signal from a user device configured for execution of a graphical interface of virtual contacts mapped to the set of contacts. When the user engages a virtual contact, the contact signal indicates the engaged virtual contact and the wireless controller engages the corresponding contact. The PCU control module detects the engaged contact as an engagement of the corresponding PCU switch and signals the appropriate seat or peripheral device actuator. Seats and peripheral devices may be simultaneously controlled via the physical PCU or via mobile device.

A child transportation system is disclosed. The system includes a seating component and various other modules. The system can check whether a seating component is located in a vehicle, whether the seating component is a proper component given the weight and height of the child in the seat, that the seating component is properly secured in the vehicle, and that the system is operating correctly. The system can monitor various conditions of the seat and the environment, and can provide alarms to users when cheks are not completed or dangerous environmental conditions are present, or when a child is left behind in a vehicle.

A blood alcohol level sensing system for a vehicle is steering wheel with infrared sensors that are able to detect variations in body chemistry from contact with the palms of the hands to determine if a driver is either alcohol impaired or impaired from certain medical conditions that might affect driving. The system has a digital readout that may be located on the dashboard of the vehicle, and the readout may also be transmitted to a cell phone. In the event of an exceedance of a predetermined set point, an interlock will interrupt the start circuit of the vehicle to prevent it from starting.

An in-car status notification system that detects that a situation requiring attention has arisen in which a child is alone inside an automobile by using at least one of a plurality of sensors or a camera; detects positional information of the automobile; and in cases in which the situation requiring attention has been detected, sends notification of the automobile positional information and situation requiring attention detected information indicating a child is alone in the automobile to at least a pre-set first mobile phone and a pre-set second mobile phone.

A device which detects a child presence in a car seat and communicates an audible and mobile-device reminder to the driver that a child occupant is in the seat is disclosed. The system utilizes internal sensors to monitor various vehicle occupancy conditions to determine when a triggering event has occurred while the car seat occupancy sensor is engaged. Once triggered, the system will immediately notify the driver that the child remains in the car seat inside the vehicle, and will also sent follow-up alerts.