Patent Publication Number: US-2020298795-A1

Title: Seat belt assist device and methods of use

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/819,713, filed Mar. 18, 2019, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     The present disclosure relates to seat belts used in the transportation industry. More particularly the present disclosure relates to devices and methods for assisting and ensuring that individuals wear their seat belts properly. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     Seatbelts reduce the risk of injury in many types of crashes by helping to properly position occupants, while the seat belt is designed to stretch at a controlled rate to absorb impact energy and reduce the severity of the occupant&#39;s deceleration. Studies show that seatbelts reduce the overall risk for serious injuries in crashes by about 60%, and seatbelts reduce the risk for fatalities by approximately 45%. This is of particular importance because motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death among those aged 1-54 in the U.S., and the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that in the United States alone, seat belts save more than 12,500 lives each year, and prevent over 300,000 serious injuries. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , seat belts  10  used in vehicles generally include a lap belt  12  that goes over the waist of an individual and a diagonal sash  14  that extends over the occupant&#39;s chest and shoulder. The lap belt  12  and sash  14  are sometimes called a “webbing” of a seat belt. A retractor (not shown) may be coupled to the webbing to wind it and the webbing may have sensor(s) that lock the webbing when the vehicle&#39;s speed changes suddenly, or when the webbing is pulled suddenly. The webbing is typically coupled to a metallic tongue  16 . This metallic tongue  16  is, in turn, coupleable to a buckle  18 , which is typically placed between the lower cushion and the seatback in a vehicle. 
     Children may have a difficult time coupling the tongue  16  to the buckle  18 . Additionally, vehicles typically have multiple buckles and seatbelts in the back seat (e.g., three sets of buckles/seatbelts) and children may be confused as to which of the systems is associated with their seat. This may lead to confusion and perhaps possibly dangerous positioning of the seat belts if a tongue is coupled to an incorrect buckle. Thus, direct supervision or assistance of an adult is typically required. Moreover, it is difficult for parents of young children to ascertain proper buckling without visual inspection. 
     SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     In some embodiments, a seat belt assist device is used with a seat belt having a webbing, a tongue and a buckle. The assist device includes an upper sleeve for wrapping around a portion of the webbing adjacent the tongue, the upper sleeve having a first distinctive marker, a lower sleeve for wrapping around a portion of the webbing adjacent the buckle, the lower sleeve having a second distinctive marker, the second distinctive marker being the same as the first distinctive marker, a first sensor component disposed on the upper sleeve adjacent the tongue, and a second sensor component disposed on the lower sleeve adjacent the buckle, the first sensor and the second sensor being capable of signaling their position relative to one another. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE 
       Various embodiments of the presently disclosed devices and systems are disclosed herein with reference to the drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic illustration of a prior art seat belt system; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic front view of a system having the assist device according to one embodiment of the disclosure; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic front view of the sleeves prior to assembly; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic end view of the sleeves of  FIG. 3  when assembled; and 
         FIGS. 5A-B  are diagrams showing one example of a reed switch. 
     
    
    
     Various embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the appended drawings. It is to be appreciated that these drawings depict only some embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Despite the various improvements that have been made to seat belts, conventional methods suffer from some shortcomings as discussed above. 
     There therefore is a need for further improvements to the devices and methods used to couple and decouple seat belts, and particularly to assist children with doing so. Among other advantages, the present disclosure may address one or more of these needs. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates the use of seat belt assist device  100  to address some of these problems. Assistance device  100  generally includes an upper sleeve  200  configured to fit around a portion of the webbing near the tongue and a lower sleeve  250  configured to fit at least partially around the buckle or a portion of webbing connected to the buckle. Upper sleeve  200  may extend between a first end  202  and a second end  204  and may include a body  205  formed of fabric, cloth, plastic, rubber, or other suitable material. In at least some examples, the body  205  may include a stretchable material, such as spandex. In some examples, body  205  may be formed as a generally flat rectangular sheet that is rolled to form a generally round sleeve defining a lumen  230 , the lumen  230  being large enough to receive a portion of a webbing ( FIGS. 2 and 3 ). A seam  206  or stitching may couple two ends of the rectangular sheet together to form the round configuration. Alternatively, instead of a seam, two ends of the rectangular sheet may be coupled via a hook-and-loop system, such as VELCRO® brand of fastening systems so that a round configuration is easily formed. As used herein, the term “round” does not necessarily imply a cylindrical configuration, but rather any shape that has a closed or substantially closed perimeter when seen from an end view. Body  205  may have a first distinctive marker  207 . As shown, distinctive marker  207  may include a series of colored circles. Alternatively, distinctive marker  207  may include a cartoon or animated character, an image of an animal, a solid color, a striped line or other pattern, or any other design to easily distinguish it from other components. Disposed within or on upper sleeve  200  and adjacent the second end  204  is a first sensor component  220 . In one example, the first sensor component  220  is a magnet. First sensor component  220  may be attached inside the upper sleeve or on the outside of the upper sleeve. Additionally, upper sleeve may include a plurality of layers, and first sensor component  220  may be embedded within the sleeve between the plurality of layers so that it is not exposed to the environment. 
     Assist device  100  may also include a lower sleeve  250  configured to fit at least partially around the buckle and/or a portion of webbing connected to the buckle. Lower sleeve  250  may extend between a first end  252  and a second end  254  and may include a body  255  formed of material similar to that of body  205 . In some examples, body  255  may be formed as a generally flat rectangular sheet that is rolled to form a generally round sleeve defining a lumen  280 , the lumen being large enough to receive a portion of a webbing and/or a portion of the buckle ( FIGS. 2 and 3 ). A seam  256  or VELCRO® type of fastener may couple two ends of the rectangular sheet together to form the round configuration. Body  255  may have a second distinctive marker  257  that is the same or complementary to the first distinctive marker  207 . For example, first distinctive marker  207  and second distinctive marker may include the same cartoon character so that a child is quickly able to ascertain which buckles is associated with a seat belt tongue. Disposed within or on lower sleeve  250  and adjacent the first end  252  is a second sensor component  270  having, for example, a reed switch. Second sensor component  270  may be attached inside the lower sleeve or on the outside of the lower sleeve. Additionally, lower sleeve may include a plurality of layers, and second sensor component  270  may be embedded within the sleeve between the plurality of layers so that it is not exposed to the environment. In at least some examples, the two sensor components are considered in a closed condition when they are within 1 inch of each other, and in an open condition when they are more than 1 inch apart. In at least some examples, lower sleeve may be formed of a more rigid material than upper sleeve so that the buckle can more easily protrude from the seat and be quickly found by the user. 
     A schematic of a reed switch is shown in  FIGS. 5A-B . In a simple reed switch, a pair of ferromagnetic flexible metal contacts  502 , 504  are disposed within a hermetically sealed envelope  510 , the contacts being in the open position ( FIG. 5A ) when no external magnetic field is present. When a magnet “M” is brought close to the envelope  510 , the contacts  502 , 504  transition to a closed condition due to the applied magnetic field. An alarm may be triggered when the circuit is open, signaling that the magnet “M” is far from the reed switch. In this way, the system may be used as part of a proximity sensor when a magnet is disposed on a first element, and the reed switch is disposed on a second element, the proximity of the first and second elements being detectable through the use of the magnetic field. 
     It will be understood that first sensor component  220  and second sensor component  270  may be interchangeable. That is, when used in the form of a proximity sensor having a magnet and a reed switch, the magnet may be disposed on or within either the upper sleeve or the lower sleeve, and the reed switch may be disposed on the opposing sleeve. Moreover, it will be understood that though the present disclosure has been described with reference to a proximity sensor, other types of sensors may be used. These may include capacitive, doppler effect sensors, eddy-current, inductive sensors, optical sensors, radar, sonar or other suitable sensors. In at least some examples, the first and second components may include magnetic components of opposite polarity. The magnetic components may include a first magnet of a first polarity disposed on the upper sleeve, and a second magnet of a second polarity disposed on the lower sleeve, the first polarity and second polarity being opposites. Attraction of the magnets and contact between the two may signal that the belt is properly buckled and may trigger an audio message or a sound. 
     In some examples, the device  100  may include Bluetooth connectivity so that the status of the device (e.g., whether the two sensor components are close enough to one another to indicate that the seat belt is buckled) may be shared with other devices including an automobile multimedia system, or a cellphone. The Bluetooth components may be disposed in the upper sleeve, the lower sleeve or both. In some examples, the upper and/or lower sleeve may include a speaker configured to play a sound, a chime, music, or audio from a show or movie. For example, the speaker may be configured to play a sound that streams from a telephone or automobile multimedia system. In at least some examples, the upper and/or lower sleeve may also include a headphone jack so that a portable entertainment device (e.g., cellphone, iPad, tablet or laptop) may play music or sounds over the speakers of the sleeves. 
     In use, an upper sleeve  200  may be disposed around a portion of a webbing adjacent a tongue of a seat belt, the upper sleeve  200  having a first sensor component disposed at an end closer to the tongue, and a lower sleeve  250  may be disposed around a portion of a webbing and/or a buckle of a seat belt, the lower sleeve having a second sensor  270  component disposed at an end closer to the tongue. Upper and lower sleeves  200 , 250  may be wrapped around the respective components and VELCRO® fasteners may be used to keep them in position. Alternatively, the sleeves may be stitched or include a seam to keep them in a round configuration, and may be slipped over the tongue and buckle, respectively. The markings on the sleeves may be visible to the passenger so that they can quickly ascertain which buckle is to mate with a given tongue. In at least some examples, multiple sets of assistance devices are used (e.g., three sets) in a row of seat, each set of assist device (e.g., each pair of upper sleeve and lower sleeve) having a different marking or pattern and/or color from other sets so that complementary components are quickly identified. 
     With the first and second electronic components being disposed adjacent one another on respective elements adjacent the tongue and the buckle, an audible alarm may be heard when the two components are disconnected. In at least some examples, the two components will be deemed disconnected when they are approximately ¼ inch or more away from one another. In at least some examples, the two components will be deemed disconnected when they are approximately ½ inch or 1 inch or more away from one another. In this way, a parent may be assured that a child has properly fastened their seat belt. If a seat belt is not fastened, the two components will be separated, and an alarm may sound. Additionally, a primary chirp may be heard when the two sleeve components are initially brought together to announce to the driver and other passengers that a seat belt was properly clicked into position. Such audible messages may be useful to alert the driver of the status of the seat belts in the back row, so that a driver does not have to visually inspect the seat belts when traveling, for example, with children. 
     It will be appreciated that the various dependent claims and the features set forth therein can be combined in different ways than presented in the initial claims. It will also be appreciated that the features described in connection with individual embodiments may be shared with others of the described embodiments.