Monitoring and Signaling System and Related Method to Prevent the Abandonment of Infants and/or Pets in Vehicles

Monitoring and signaling system (20;

• 120) comprising at least one safety device for vehicles (5, 10;
• 50;
• 60;
• 70) selected among:
• a detection device for infants (10) which can be coupled to a seat (2) for infants, said detection device being configured to generate a first output signal indicative of the presence of an infant on the seat;
• a detection device for animals (10) which can be coupled to an item for a boot or for a pet carrier (5) and configured to generate a second output signal indicative of the presence, in the boot of a vehicle (3) or in the pet carrier, of a pet;
• a first actuation device (50;
• 70) coupled to safety belts (52) of the seat (2) or to a collar (62) and configured to generate a third signal indicative of a closure state of the safety straps or of the collar;
• and
• a second actuation device (60) coupled to the collar (62) and configured to generate a fourth output signal indicative of the presence of a pet that wears the collar (62), said monitoring and signaling system also comprising:
• a first signaling device (11) coupled to the at least one safety device for vehicles and configured to emit first signals (S1) in sequence when the first output signal indicates the presence of the infant on the seat or when the second output signal indicates the presence in the boot or in the pet carrier of the pet or when the third output signal indicates the closure state of the safety straps of the seat or of the collar or when the fourth output signal indicates the presence of the pet wearing the collar;
• and
• a second signaling device (28), couplable to the vehicle (3) and configured to emit second signals (S2) in sequence when coupled to the vehicle;
• said system further comprising a mobile device (7) comprising:
• processing means (13, 14) configured to receive pairs of signals, each formed by a respective first signal and by a corresponding second signal, and to determine, for each pair, a corresponding value of a first distance (d0′, d1, d2, d3, d4, d5) and a corresponding value of a second distance (d0″, d1′, d2′, d3′, d4′, d5′), starting from the first and the second signal of the pair respectively, said first distance being present between the mobile device and the first signaling device, said second distance being present between the mobile device and the second signaling device;
• comparison means (14) configured to compare the values of the first and second distances with a first and a second reference distance (Rth1, Rth2), respectively;
• detection means (14) configured to detect, for each received pair of signals, whether the system (20) operates alternately in:
• a proximity condition, wherein the values of the first and second distances are less than the first and second reference distances, respectively;
• or
• a distance condition, wherein the values of the first and second distances are greater than the first and the second reference distances, respectively;
• or
• a first intermediate condition, wherein the first distance is greater than the first reference distance, and the second distance is less than the second reference distance;
• or
• a second intermediate condition, wherein the first distance is less than the first reference distance, and the second distance is greater than the second reference distance;
• said system further comprising:
• signaling means (14) configured to generate, in the event that the detection means detect the distance condition, different monitoring signals (Sm1, Sm2, Sm3, Sm4), depending on the fact that said distance condition has been detected after the detection, by said detection means, of the first or the second intermediate condition.