Patent ID: 7466217

Claim:
A system for signaling that a person is left in a vehicle, the system comprising: a power source; a processing unit coupled to the power source, the processing unit including a counter and a state monitoring unit configured to monitor an internal temperature of the vehicle and to monitor whether the vehicle is in an on or an off state and a door monitoring unit configured to monitor whether any of the vehicle doors are open or closed; a first vehicle seat buckle receiver, including a first signal issuing unit, coupled to the power source and the processing unit; a first vehicle seat buckle to be removably inserted into the first buckle receiver to install a child seat on a vehicle seat and to thereby cause the first signal issuing unit to issue an installation signal to the processing unit; a second child seat buckle receiver, including a second signal issuing unit, coupled to the power source and either the processing unit directly or the processing unit via the first buckle receiver; a second child seat buckle to be removably inserted into the second buckle receiver indicative of occupation of the person on the child seat and to thereby cause the second signal issuing unit to issue an occupation signal to the processing unit; and an alarm unit coupled to the power source and the processing unit to issue an alarm when the installation signal and the occupation signal are each currently received by the processing unit, the processing unit determines that the internal temperature of the vehicle is elevated and that the vehicle is turned from the on to the off state, and the counter determines that a predetermined time has passed with the vehicle doors being closed.