WO2013035087A1

WO2013035087A1 - A system for preventing forgetting an infant within a vehicle

Info

Publication number: WO2013035087A1
Application number: PCT/IL2012/000308
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lilach SLIMAN
Original assignee: Sliman Lilach
Priority date: 2011-09-11
Filing date: 2012-08-21
Publication date: 2013-03-14
Also published as: IL215066A0

Abstract

A system for vehicles that provides warning when the driver gets out of the driver's seat while there is an infant in the car seat, comprised of an infant micro-switch, a driver micro-switch and a control box. The switches open or close an electrical circuit when pressure (weight) is applied on them and whereby they switch to the opposite electrical position when that pressure (weight) is lifted. The infant micro-switch is placed on or in the infant's car seat and the driver micro-switch is placed on or in the driver' seat. The switches are connected to the control box so that the control box receives information about the position of each of the switches. The control box comprises a warning device. The system activates the warning device when the infant micro-switch is in pressed position and the driver micro-switch is in released position.

Description

A SYSTEM FOR PREVENTING FORGETTING AN INFANT

WITHIN A VEHICLE

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of infant seats. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus for preventing forgetting an infant within a vehicle.

Background of the Invention

Infants mistakenly left behind in vehicles until death are a tragic occurrence, especially in summers. Such infants, forgotten in a closed vehicle, are in danger of being quickly overcome by the heat within the vehicle.

The present invention is directed to solving this problem. Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds. Brief Description of the Drawings

Embodiments and features of the present invention are described herein in conjunction with the following drawings:

Fig. 1 depicts one of the mechanisms of the system for preventing forgetting an infant within a vehicle, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 2A is similar to Fig. 2, except that the elements are built within a handle of seat 12.

Fig. 3 is a side sectional view of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 depicts an electrical circuit system for preventing forgetting an infant within a vehicle, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram of the system of Fig. 4.

Drawing No. 6 depicts the system (100), Drawing No. 7 depicts the warning device (140), and Drawing No. 8 depicts the image recording and transmitting unit (150).

It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale The Invention

In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a system (10) for preventing forgetting an infant within a vehicle, the system comprising: a switching assembly (48) disposed within an infant seat (12) of the vehicle, the switching assembly (48) activated upon weight of an infant sitting on the seat (12); and

at least two units selected from a group including:

an alerting unit (20) for producing an alerting sound upon forgetting an infant in the vehicle;

an observing unit (18, 16) for capturing the infant seat (12) upon activation of the switching assembly (48) by the infant sitting on the seat (12), and for displaying the infant seat (12) to a driver of the vehicle;

a transmitter (70) for transmitting to a portable receiver (72) carried by the driver, upon activation of the switching assembly (48) by the infant sitting on the seat (12), the receiver for alerting upon sensing distance larger than a certain threshold between the transmitter and the receiver; an indicating unit (24), for indicating to people wandering near the vehicle that an infant has been forgotten in the vehicle, the indicating unit (24) activated upon activation of the switching assembly (48) by the infant sitting on the seat (12); an anti-lock unit (64), for disabling activation of a central locking system (42) of the vehicle upon activation of the switching assembly (48) by the infant sitting on the seat (12); and

a mechanism for disabling turning off a radio (28) of the vehicle upon activation of the switching assembly (48) by the infant sitting on the seat (12),

Thereby by including a plurality of mechanisms reducing the chance of forgetting the infant within the vehicle.

The alerting unit (20) may comprise:

a switch (40) of a vehicle door, connected in serial to a first switch (26) of the switching assembly (48) and in serial to a buzzer (20), for turning on the buzzer (20) upon the weight of the infant closing the first switch (26) together with opening the door which closes the door switch (40).

The alerting unit (20) may further comprise:

an additional switch (38) operated by a main switch of the vehicle, the additional switch connected in parallel to the door switch (40), for turning on the buzzer (20) upon the weight of the infant closing the first switch (26) toether with turning off the vehicle main switch,

thereby buzzin upon forgetting an infant while the vehicle is turned to off.

The observing unit (18,16) may comprise:

a second switch (58) of the switching assembly (48), for turning on a video camera (18) capturing the infant seat (12) and for turning on a screen (16) displaying the capture.

The anti-lock unit (64) may comprise:

a third switch (64) of the switching assembly (48), for cutting off the central locking system (42) of the vehicle,

thereby the activation of the switching assembly (48) by the infant sitting on the seat (12) may disable activation of the central locking system (42).

The anti-lock unit (64) may comprise:

a third switch (64) of the switching assembly (48), for opening windows of the vehicle. The transmitter (70) may further comprise:

a fourth switch (68) of the switching assembly (48), for activating the transmitter (70) by the infant sitting on the seat (12).

The video camera (18) may be attached to the infant seat. (12).

The attachment of the video camera (18) to the infant seat (12) may comprise packaging of the video camera (18) within a handle of the infant seat (12).

The switching assembly (48) may comprise at least two switches, each comprising two leaves (32, 34) being contacted by the weight of the infant.

The system (10) may further comprise at least one switch (26 A) disposed on a rear seat of the vehicle, the at least one switch electrically connected to the switching assembly (48),

thereby preventing forgetting an infant sitting on the rear seat. The at least one switch (26A) disposed on the rear seat of the vehicle, may cojmprise a nont installed switch for being plugged.

The system may further comprising a battery (44).

The battery may be external to the vehicle.

The reference numbers have been used to point out elements in the embodiments described and illustrated herein, in order to facilitate the understanding of the invention. They are meant to be merely illustrative, and not limiting. Also, the foregoing embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated in conjunction with systems and methods thereof, which are meant to be merely illustrative, and not limiting.

The present invention will be understood from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, which are meant to be descriptive and not limiting. For the sake of brevity, some well-known features, methods, systems, procedures, components, circuits, and so on, are not described in detail. Fig. 1 depicts one of the mechanisms of the system for preventing forgetting an infant within a vehicle, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of Fig. 1.

A video camera 18 is attached to an infant seat 12. A screen 16 displays the capturing of video camera 18. A visual indicating unit 24, which may include blinking light emitting diodes (leds) turned on by a switch 22, may visually indicate to people wandering near the vehicle presence of the infant upon forgetting the infant.

Indicating unit 24 may include illumination for illuminating the infant. A buzzer 20 may alert forgetting the infant.

Led 24, camera 18 and buzzer 20 are built within the handle of infant seat 12, each having an opening for communicating with the environment. The opening of the camera includes a hole or a transparent surface glass, the opening of the buzzer includes a plurality of small holes. Fig. 3 is a side sectional view of Figs. 2 and 2A.

A switch 26, being one switch of an switching assembly 48, is closed by the weight of the infant. Switch 26 includes two copper leaves 32 and 34 which contact one another upon placing the infant on seat 12.

Fig. 4 depicts an electrical circuit of system for preventing forgetting an infant within a vehicle, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

A system 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention for preventing forgetting an infant within a vehicle includes an infant seat 12 including one or more switches 26, 58, 64 and 68, within switching assembly 48, which are turned on or off, based on the weight of the infant.

Switch 26 is closed upon the infant sitting on infant seat 12. A door switch 40 is closed upon opening a vehicle door. Upon placing an infant on seat 12 and upon opening the vehicle door, an alerting unit including a buzzer 20 is powered by the vehicle's battery 44, or by an external battery, via switches 26 and 40 which are turned to on. Thus, placing the infant on seat 12 allows securing the infant without turning on buzzer 20 as long as the vehicle's door is closed. Upon opening the door, the driver is alerted that the infant must be removed from the vehicle.

Upon closing the vehicle's door again buzzer 20 ceases, as switch 40 is cut off. However, upon turning off the vehicle's switch, a switch 38 which is connected parallel to switch 40 is closed, turning buzzer 20 again.

Buzzer 20 may produce various forms of sounds, such as a baby crying, discontinuous chirping, a textual announcement that the infant has been forgotten, or other.

Switch 58 is closed upon the infant sitting on infant seat 12. Switch 58 turns on video camera 18 and screen 16. Thus, while the infant is not sitting on infant seat 12, the parent is not used to seeing anything on screen 16. Thus, the placing of the infant on seat 12 turns on the screen, and thus the attention of the parent is drawn to the infant. Video camera 18 captures seat 12 and the infant, for showing the infant to the parent during the entire travelling period. The parent is provided with direct eye connection with the infant. The attention of the parent to the infant is drawn upon placing the infant on seat 12, since this turns the screen to on. Thus the chance for forgetting the infant is reduced. Switch 64 is cut off, upon placing the infant on seat 12. Only when switch 64 is closed can the central locking system 42 of the vehicle be operated. Thus, upon forgetting the infant on seat 12, an attempt to operate central locking system 42 fails to close the vehicle.

Only when switch 64 is closed can the vehicle's windows be closed. Upon forgetting the infant on seat 12, an attempt to close the windows fails.

Switch 68 is closed upon placing the infant on seat 12. Switch 68 turns on a transmitter 70, which transmits a signal to a receiver 72. Receiver 72 buzzes upon receiving a low signal from transmitter 70, meaning that receiver 72 moves away from transmitter 70. If switch 68 is cut off upon taking the infant from seat 12, transmitter 70 does not transmit a signal to receiver 72, and thus, receiver 72 does not operate the buzzer thereof. Additional switches may be disposed on the rear seat, and connected as the above-mentioned switches. For example a switch enumerated 26A may be disposed on the rear seat instead or electrically parallel to switch 26 in infant seat 12; another switch may be disposed on the rear seat instead or parallel to switch 58 in infant seat 12, etc.

Additional switches may be provided being portable, i.e., without being installed, for connecting them to the a plug to the wiring of Fig. 4.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram of the system of Fig. 4.

Switching assembly 48 allows via the switches thereof actuated by weight of the infant thus functioning as a weight sensor, supplying power of battery 44 to camera 18. to screen 16 and to leds 24 for visually indicating that the infant is sitting on seat 12. Door switches 40 and weight switch 26 of switching assembly 48 actuate a control circuit 46, which turns on buzzer 20. Command circuit 46 also controls central locking system 42.

In the figures and/or description herein, the following reference numerals have been mentioned: numeral 10 denotes a system for preventing forgetting an infant within a vehicle, according to one embodiment of the present invention;

numeral 12 denotes an infant seat;

numeral 16 denotes a screen for showing the captured image of the car seat;

numeral 18 denotes a video camera;

numeral 20 denotes an alerting unit, including a buzzer;

numeral 22 denotes a switch being connected upon forgetting an infant within a vehicle;

numeral 24 denotes leds or other illumination means for visually indicating that the infant has been forgotten, and for illuminating the infant;

numerals 26 and 26A denotes a switch closed by the weight of the infant;

numeral 28 denotes a radio or a sound device installed in a vehicle, and used by the system for vocally indicating that the infant is present;

numerals 32 and 34 denote leaves, commonly of copper, one of them flexible, for closing a switch upon weight; numeral 38 denotes a switch which is connected upon turning off the main switch of the vehicle;

numeral 40 denotes a switch of a door of a vehicle;

numeral 42 denotes a central locking system of the vehicle;

numeral 44 denotes a power source, preferably the rechargeable battery of the vehicle;

numeral 46 denotes a control circuit, for activating and de-activating the units controlled by the system;

numeral 48 denotes a switching assembly including several switches opened or closed by the infant sitting thereon;

numeral 58 denotes a switch of the switching assembly for turning on the video camera;

numeral 64 denotes an anti-lock unit;

numeral 68 denotes a switch of the switching assembly for activating a transmitter;

numeral 70 denotes a transmitter; and

numeral 72 denotes a receiver. The foregoing description and illustrations of the embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the above description in any form.

Any term that has been defined above and used in the claims, should to be interpreted according to this definition.

The reference numbers in the claims are not a part of the claims, but rather used for facilitating the reading thereof. These reference numbers should not be interpreted as limiting the claims in any form.

The second embodiment of the invention, subject of the present patent, refers to a system (100) that is designed to provide a warning when there is a possibility that the vehicle's driver may be forgetting an infant in the vehicle. The system (100) comprises the following main components: infant micro-switch (110), driver micro-switch (120), and control box (130). The switches (110) (120) can be any type of switch that is activated when pressure (weight) is applied to it in a downward direction, thereby opening (or closing) an electrical circuit, and that reverses its position (closing or opening the circuit) when the pressure (weight) is lifted. When the infant micro-switch (110) is in released (or initial) position, i.e. when no weight is applied to it, the electrical circuit is open, and when weight is applied to it, the electrical circuit is closed. When the weight is then lifted, the infant micro-switch (110) returns to its initial position and the electrical circuit is opened. The driver micro-switch (120) has the opposite initial position, i.e. when it has no weight on it, the electrical circuit is closed.

The switches (110) (120) can and should be covered by rigid plates

(111) (121), made of plastic or metal or another rigid material, and should be about 12 sq.cm in size so as to ensure the switches (110) (120) are activated when the infant's and driver's bodies apply pressure (weight) on them. The switches (110) (120) and corresponding rigid plates (111) (121) can and should also be packaged or wrapped as packs

(112) (122), made of fabric or another material, so as to maintain their effectiveness and enable effective and convenient use of the system (100). Positioning of switches (110) (120) when using the system (100): The infant micro-switch (110) is placed on the infant's car seat and may be placed under the fabric cover of the car seat to ensure that it is securely in place at all times and will be activated whenever the infant is placed in the car seat. The driver micro-switch (120) is placed on the driver's seat and if the seat has a seat cover, it should be placed under the seat cover. The said switches can be attached permanently or otherwise to the seat upholstery or to the seats themselves.

The control box (130) comprises a casing (131), an internal power source (132), an electronic card or electrical circuit with a wire connection (133) (hereinafter the "electronic card"), and a warning device (134). The electronic card (133) is powered by the internal power source (132) and is connected to the warning device (134) such that the electronic card (133) activates or deactivates the warning device (134) as described below.

The switches (110) (120) are connected to the control box (130) by means of wires (113) (123). Thus, the control box (130) receives realtime information about the position of each of the two switches (110) (120), indicating specifically whether they are in pressed or released position. This connection may alternatively be wireless and include two transceivers (114) (124) that are attached to the switches (110) (120) and corresponding transceivers (135) (136) that are located in the control box (130).

The warning device (134) is activated when the infant micro-switch (110) is in pressed position (indicating that the infant is sitting in the car seat) and the driver micro-switch (120) is in released position (indicating that the driver has gotten out of the driver seat). In this situation, there is a risk that the driver will leave the vehicle and forget the infant inside. The action of the warning device (134) is intended to warn against this potential risk. The warning device (134) is not activated in any other situation. The warning device (134) can be acoustic, such as a buzzer or speaker that produces sounds, or visual, such as an indicator light.

The system (100), subject of the present invention, has many advantages since, among other things, it is not dependent on or connected to any other of the vehicle's systems. In addition, the system (100) is easy and simple to use. The driver must only place the infant micro-switch (110) in the infant's car seat, place the driver micro-switch (120) on or in the driver's seat, and install the control box (130) some place in the vehicle, and the system (100) is ready to be used.

The third embodiment of the system (100) includes also a separate warning device (140) that can be placed in the driver's pocket or be attached to the vehicle's key ring. This warning device (140) produces an acoustic, visual or other warning when the infant micro-switch (110) is in pressed position (indicating that the infant is in the car seat) and the driver micro-switch (120) is in released position (indicating that the driver has gotten out of the driver's seat and might forget the infant in the vehicle). The warning device (140) is equipped with an internal power source (142) and an acoustic, visual or other warning mechanism (143). When the electronic card (133) detects that the infant micro-switch (110) is in pressed position and the driver micro-switch (120) is in released position, the transceiver (137) in the control box (130) sends a signal that activates the warning device (140).

The fourth embodiment of the system (100) includes also an image recording and transmitting unit (150) that comprises a video camera

(151) and an image transmission device (152). The camera (151) can be installed so that it captures the infant's car seat and the transmission device (152) then transmits the information to a destination that is predetermined by the driver, such as cellular phone, laptop, built-in screen in the vehicle, etc. The camera (151) and transmission device

(152) are activated only when both the infant micro-switch (110) and the driver micro-switch (120) are in pressed position. This unit enables the driver or passenger sitting beside the driver to see the infant on the said screen and to observe his or her condition in real time. The transmission device (152) comprises a transmitter (1521) that transmits the image to the said destination, and a receiver (1522) that receives information from the control box (130) about the position of the switches (110) (120).

Claims

1. A system (10) for preventing forgetting an infant within a vehicle, said system comprising:

a switching assembly (48) disposed within an infant seat (12) of said vehicle, said switching assembly (48) activated upon weight of an infant sitting on said seat (12); and

at least two units selected from a group including:

an observing unit (18, 16) for capturing said infant seat (12) upon activation of said switching assembly (48) by said infant sitting on said seat (12), and for displaying said infant seat (12) to a driver of said vehicle;

a transmitter (70) for transmitting to a portable receiver (72) carried by said driver, upon activation of said switching assembly (48) by said infant sitting on said seat (12), said receiver for alerting upon sensing distance larger than a certain threshold between said transmitter and said receiver; an indicating unit (24), for indicating to people wandering near the vehicle that an infant has been forgotten in said vehicle, said indicating unit (24) activated upon activation of said switching assembly (48) by said infant sitting on said seat (12);

an anti-lock unit (64), for disabling activation of a central locking system (42) of said vehicle upon activation of said switching assembly (48) by said infant sitting on said seat (12); and

a mechanism for disabling turning off a radio (28) of said vehicle upon activation of said switching assembly (48) by said infant sitting on said seat (12),

thereby by including a plurality of mechanisms reducing chance of forgetting said infant within said vehicle.

2. A system (10) according to claim 1, wherein said alerting unit (20) comprises:

a switch (40) of a door of said vehicle, connected in serial to a first switch (26) of said switching assembly (48) and in serial to a buzzer (20), for turning on said buzzer (20) upon said weight of said infant closing said first switch (26) together with opening said door which closes said door switch (40).

3. A system (10) according to claim 2, wherein said alerting unit (20) further comprises:

an additional switch (38) operated by a main switch of said vehicle, said additional switch connected in parallel to said door switch (40), for turning on said buzzer (20) upon said weight of said infant closing said first switch (26) together with turning off said vehicle main switch, thereby buzzing upon forgetting an infant while said vehicle is turned to off.

4. A system (10) according to claim 1, wherein said observing unit (18,16) comprises:

a second switch (58) of said switching assembly (48), for turning on a video camera (18) capturing said infant seat (12) and for turning on a screen (16) displaying said capture.

5. A system (10) according to claim 1, wherein said anti-lock unit (64) comprises:

a third switch (64) of said switching assembly (48), for cutting off said central locking system (42) of said vehicle,

thereby said activation of said switching assembly (48) by said infant sitting on said seat (12) disables activation of said central locking system (42).

6. A system (10) according to claim 1, wherein said anti-lock unit (64) comprises:

a third switch (64) of said switching assembly (48), for opening windows of said vehicle.

7. A system (10) according to claim 1, wherein said transmitter (70) further comprises:

a fourth switch (68) of said switching assembly (48), for activating said transmitter (70) by said infant sitting on said seat (12).

8. A system according to claim 1, wherein said video camera (18) is attached to said infant seat (12).

9. A system according to claim 8, wherein said attachment of said video camera (18) to said infant seat (12) comprises packaging of said video camera (18) within a handle of said infant seat (12).

10. A system according to claim 1, wherein said switching assembly (48) comprises at least two switches each comprising two leaves (32, 34) being contacted by said weight of said infant.

11. A system (10) according to claim 1, further comprising at least one switch (26A) disposed on a rear seat of said vehicle, said at least one switch electrically connected to said switching assembly (48), thereby preventing forgetting an infant sitting on said rear seat.

12. A system (10) according to claim 11, wherein said at least one switch (26A) disposed on a rear seat of said vehicle, comprises a non- installed switch for being plugged.

13. A system (10) according to claim 1, further comprising a battery (44).

14. A system (10) according to claim 13, wherein said battery (44) is external to said vehicle.

15. A system for vehicles that provides warning when the driver gets out of the driver's seat while there is an infant in the car seat, comprised of an infant micro-switch, a driver micro-switch and a control box;

Whereby the switches open or close an electrical circuit when pressure (weight) is applied on them and whereby they switch to the opposite electrical position when that pressure (weight) is lifted;

Whereby the infant micro-switch is placed on or in the infant's car seat and the driver micro-switch is placed on or in the driver' seat; whereby the switches are connected to the control box via wires so that the control box receives information about the position of each of the switches, i.e. whether each switch is in pressed or released position; Whereby the control box comprises a casing, an internal power source, an electronic card and a warning device; whereby the warning produced may be acoustic, visual or other;

Whereby the electronic card is powered by the internal power source and is connected to the warning device such that it activates the warning device when the infant micro-switch is in pressed position and the driver micro -switch is in released position.

16. The system described in Claim No. 15 whereby the said switches are connected to the control box by means of a wireless connection; whereby each of the said switches is equipped with a transmitter that transmits the switch position to a corresponding receiver located in the control box.

17. The system described in Claim No. 15 whereby each of the switches is has a rigid plate over it.

18. The system described in Claims Nos. 15 and 16 whereby it also includes a separate warning device that provides a warning whenever the control box detects a situation in which the infant micro-switch is pressed but the driver micro-switch is released; whereby the warning device comprises an internal power source, a warning mechanism, and a receiver that receives transmissions from the transmitter in the control box.

19. The system described in Claims No2. 15 and 16 whereby it also includes an image recording and transmitting unit that comprises a video camera and an image transmission device; whereby the camera is designed to capture the infant while he or she is in the car seat, and the transmission device is designed to transmit the information to a predetermined destination; whereby the camera and transmission device are activated when both the infant micro-switch and the driver micro- switch are in pressed position; whereby the transmission device includes a transmitter that transmits the image to a predetermined destination and a receiver that receives information from the control box about the position of the said switches.