Car seat occupancy alarm

The car seat occupancy alarm is an alarm that detects the presence of individuals seated in the rear of the vehicle, and upon detection of which shall emit an alarm, provided the vehicle is turned off. The alarm system includes pressure sensors that are integrated into the rear seats of a vehicle, and which are in wired communication with a central processing unit located elsewhere within said vehicle. The central processing unit is further in wired communication with a timer, vehicle lights, and a vehicle battery in order to operate, sense, and emit an alarm upon detection that individuals remain in any of the rear seats while the vehicle is parked.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not Applicable

REFERENCE TO APPENDIX

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of car seat, more specifically, an alarm system directed to the rear car seats.

B. Discussion of the Prior Art

As will be discussed immediately below, no prior art discloses an alarm system configured for use with a vehicle;

wherein the alarm system includes thin metal contact sensors that are integrated into the rear seats of a vehicle, and which are in wired communication with a central processing unit located elsewhere within said vehicle; wherein the contact sensors close a circuit once an individual is seated on the respective seat; wherein the central processing unit is further in wired communication with a timer, vehicle lights, and a vehicle battery in order to operate, sense, and emit an alarm while the vehicle is parked.

The Burgess Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,812,844) discloses a child safety seat with an alarm to notify the driver of a vehicle that an infant is in its carrier inside of the vehicle. However, the alarm is not configured for use with the rear seats of a vehicle.

The Johnson et al. Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 7,466,217) discloses a system for determining abandonment of a child in an unattended vehicle. However, the system does not use pressure sensors to detect weight of the rear seat(s).

The Rossi Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,949,340) discloses a system for warning when a child is left in a vehicle seat and a transmitter for sending the warning to a remote location. However, the system is integrated into the child car seat, and not the rear seat(s) of the vehicle.

The Cunningham Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 7,408,445) discloses a system for generating a reminder signal to one or more individuals exiting a vehicle for purposes of preventing the inadvertent leaving of a child. Again, the system does not integrate weight or pressure sensors into the rear seat(s) of the vehicle.

The Lima et al. Patent Application Publication (U.S. Pub. No. 2008/0088426) discloses an alarm system for alerting parents that a baby is still in a car seat. However, the alarm system is secured to the restraining belts of a child car seat, and not pressure sensors of rear vehicle seats.

The Rams, Jr. Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 7,378,979) discloses a child occupancy detection system having a sensor connected to the seat belt of the baby's car seat. Again, the system does not include pressure sensors into the reart seat(s) of a vehicle.

The Monzo et al. Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 7,348,889) discloses a system and method to warn that a child has been left unattended in a vehicle. Again, the system is not integrating pressure sensors in the rear seat(s) of a vehicle.

While the above-described devices fulfill their respective and particular objects and requirements, they do not describe an alarm system configured for use with a vehicle; wherein the alarm system includes thin metal contact sensors that are integrated into the rear seats of a vehicle, and which are in wired communication with a central processing unit located elsewhere within said vehicle; wherein the contact sensors close a circuit once an individual is seated on the respective seat; wherein the central processing unit is further in wired communication with a timer, vehicle lights, and a vehicle battery in order to operate, sense, and emit an alarm upon detection that individuals remain in any of the rear seats while the vehicle is parked. In this regard, the car seat occupancy alarm departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The car seat occupancy alarm is an alarm that detects the presence of individuals seated in the rear of the vehicle, and upon detection of which shall emit an alarm, provided the vehicle is turned off. The alarm system includes contact sensors that are integrated into the rear seats of a vehicle, and which are in wired communication with a central processing unit located elsewhere within said vehicle. The central processing unit is further in wired communication with a timer, vehicle lights, and a vehicle battery in order to operate, sense, and emit an alarm upon detection that individuals remain in any of the rear seats while the vehicle is parked.

It is an object of the invention to provide an alarm that is configured for use with a vehicle, and which detects the presence of individuals seated in the rear seat of the vehicle, and which shall issue an alarm provided the vehicle is turned off.

A further object of the invention is to provide an alarm that uses metal contact sensors that touch upon having a weight placed onto the rear vehicle seat in order to form a circuit that the central processing unit detects.

A further object of the invention is to provide contact sensors on both the seat and seat back of the same rear seat in order to determine whether an individual is seated in the rear seat as opposed to an object that is resting on the seat.

A further object of the invention is to provide an alarm that utilizes the lights of the vehicle in order to issue an alarm.

A further object of the invention is to provide an alarm that utilizes the car horn of the vehicle in order to issue an alarm.

These together with additional objects, features and advantages of the car seat occupancy alarm will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the car seat occupancy alarm when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In this respect, before explaining the current embodiments of the car seat occupancy alarm in detail, it is to be understood that the car seat occupancy alarm is not limited in its applications to the details of construction and arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustration. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the concept of this disclosure may be readily utilized as a basis for the design of other structures, methods, and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the car seat occupancy alarm.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT

Detailed reference will now be made to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated inFIGS. 1-6. A car seat occupancy alarm100(hereinafter invention) includes a plurality of sensors101that are integrated into a seat201and seat back202of a rear vehicle seat203. The sensors101are contact sensors that close a circuit when weight is added in order to detect weight applied thereon. The rear vehicle seat203is outfitted with sensors101on both the seat201and seat back202in order to ensure that an individual is actually seated in the rear vehicle seat203as opposed to a weighted object being placed thereon.

The sensors101are in wired communication via a wire110to a central processing unit120located elsewhere with respect to a vehicle200. The central processing unit120determines if the sensors101detect an individual on the rear vehicle seat203, and issue an alarm300provided the vehicle200is turned off.

The central processing unit120is referred to as CPU inFIG. 5, and may be referred to as such in the detailed description. The central processing unit120is in wired communication with car lights210, a car horn215, an automotive battery220, a car ignition230, and a timer150. The timer150is included with the invention100in order to count down a particular amount of time prior to issuing an alarm160. The alarm160is either audible or visual or a combination of the two. The alarm160shall issue a visual alarm via the car lights210and shall issue an audible alarm via the car horn215.

The CPU120determines whether the vehicle200is running by way of the wired communication between the CPU and a car ignition230. If the CPU120determines that there is/are occupants in either of the rear vehicle seats203and that the vehicle200is not operating via the car ignition230, then the timer150shall commence to counting down until issuing an alarm160via either or both the car lights210and car horn215.

It shall be noted that most vehicles200typically have more than one rear vehicle seat. In such a situation, the invention100will require sensors101on each of the two rear vehicle seats203. Furthermore, the CPU120will be charged with monitoring and detecting the presence of an individual in either of the rear vehicle seats203, and upon which shall issue the alarm160.

Referring toFIGS. 4-5, the vehicle200includes a left rear vehicle seat203A and a right rear vehicle seat203B. Moreover, the left rear vehicle seat203A is individually wired to the CPU120, whereas, the right rear vehicle seat203B is wired to the CPU120individually.

Referring toFIG. 6, the sensor101is further defined with a first sensor member105biased above a second sensor member106. The first sensor member105is biased upwardly with respect to the second sensor member106via a spring107, which when compressed via a weight of an individual400shall compress thereby enabling wired communication to occur between the first sensor member105and the second sensor member106.