CAR SEAT OCCUPANT DETECTION AND ALERT APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD

摘要

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.

主权项

1. A car seat occupant detection system for a car seat installed in a vehicle, said system comprising:
at least one harness sensor for detecting whether connectors of a car seat harness are connected; a weight sensor for detecting the weight of an occupant in the car seat; a controller in communication with said at least one harness sensor and said weight sensor; and a transceiver communicatively coupled to said controller and configured to selectively communicate with a driver communication device via a local wireless communication link and with a third party communication device via a wide area wireless communication link, wherein said controller is constructed to determine whether or not an occupant in the car seat has been left in the car seat by a driver of the vehicle who has left the vehicle based on detections of said at least one harness sensor and said weight sensor, and a status of communication between said transceiver and said driver communication device via the local wireless communication link, and wherein in a case where said controller determines that an occupant in the car seat has been left in the car seat by the driver who has left the vehicle, said controller instructs said transceiver to send a first alert message to said driver communication device via said local wireless communication link if said driver communication device is in communication range of said local wireless communication link or instructs said transceiver to send a second alert message to said third party communication device via said wide area wireless communication link if said driver communication device is not in communication range of said local wireless communication link.