US 6,922,622 B2 · Hot vehicle safety system and methods of preventing passenger entrapment and heat suffocation

Abstract

Safety systems for vehicles, primarily passenger vehicles, comprising automated systems and methods for preventing entrapment of children, disabled, aged or infirm persons, or pets from being trapped in closed vehicles left in the sun, so that they will not suffocate from the heat. The invention is characterized by use of one or more systems to sense the occupancy state and temperature inside the vehicle passenger or load space, and provide one or more outputs which can selectively be employed to provide interior and exterior warning of a trapped passenger in a dangerously hot car to permit rescue, and/or to activate vehicle electro-mechanical systems to relieve the heat, such as rolling down windows, unlatching seat belts, unlocking doors, starting the car and/or fans or air conditioning systems and the like. The exterior warnings may be any suitable warning, such as sounding the car horn or alarm siren, flashing head, tail or special lights, placing an emergency call via a vehicle dedicated cell phone, CB radio, GPS system, or the like.

Claims36

Dependent claims

Method for reducing danger to vehicular passenger and animal occupants of heat prostration or suffocation upon being trapped in a hot, closed vehicle comprising the steps of:

providing a passenger safety system comprising a vehicle interior space occupancy sensor assembly that includes an ultrasound unit and a controller including a safety algorithm for activating passenger/animal occupant alert, an exterior alert, passenger/animal occupant relief and passenger/animal occupant release functions;
b) monitoring with said safety system a vehicle operational state including sensing when said vehicle is in a stopped condition;
c) implementing said safety algorithm when a stopped condition of said vehicle is sensed, including;
i) determining with said occupancy sensor an occupancy state of said vehicle interior space selected from a passenger compartment and a load space;
ii) upon determining said vehicle interior space includes at least one occupant, monitoring and evaluating interior temperature rise data extracted from an output of said ultrasound unit;
and
iii) progressively triggering at least two of an interior alert, an exterior alert, a heat relief measure;
and a passenger/animal occupant release measure in response to criteria including said vehicle is in a stopped condition, said vehicle interior space occupancy state is determined to be occupied, and the monitored temperature satisfies a predetermined danger criteria.

5 more elements

Method for providing an alert to assist in avoiding development of a heat condition in the interior of a vehicle that is dangerous to non-abled human and animal occupants, comprising the steps of:

a) providing a reminder device for the vehicle driver and able passengers of the presence of non-abled vehicle occupants,
b) arming said reminder device upon inclusion of at least one non-abled occupant in said vehicle;
c) sensing a condition of at least one of said driver or an able passenger leaving said vehicle, vehicle ignition OFF after a period of ignition ON, vehicle stopped, and at least one of the driver and an able passenger door opening or/and closing;
d) monitoring the temperature in the vehicle space in which said non-abled vehicle occupant is located by extraction of temperature data from the output of at least one ultrasound transducer;
and
e) triggering said reminder upon both said monitored temperature satisfying a predetermined criteria and at least one of said sensed conditions occurring so that said reminder device provides an alert to at least one of said driver and said able passenger to not leave said non-abled occupant untended in the vehicle to suffer from heat-induced injury.

3 more elements

Apparatus system for reminding or warning against development of excess heat conditions in vehicle passenger and/or load spaces, comprising in operative combination:

a) a safety system which includes at least one temperature sensor for monitoring the ambient temperature of at least one of a vehicle interior space and the exterior, comprising at least one ultrasound transponder unit;
b) said safety system includes a controller having a signal processing algorithm for determining when said vehicle is in a stopped condition and for extraction of temperature data from an input from said ultrasound transponder unit, a state and temperature history database, and a control algorithm including a set of temperature criteria for at least one of reminder and warning activation triggers;
and
c) at least one warning device mounted in association with said vehicle triggered by said controller in response to a determination that said vehicle is in the stopped condition and the monitored temperature satisfying a predetermined criteria, for at least one of:
i) reminding against leaving a non-abled passenger or animal in the vehicle;
and
ii) warning of at least one sensed temperature condition exterior or interior of said
vehicle that tends toward danger for a ion-abled passenger or animal in said vehicle space.

5 more elements

Apparatus system for reducing the danger to vehicular passengers and animals of heat prostration or suffocation upon being trapped in a hot, closed vehicle comprising in operative combination:

a) at least one temperature sensor for monitoring at least one of a vehicle interior space and the exterior ambient temperature wherein said interior space temperature is extracted from a return signal output from an ultrasound sensor;
b) at least one vehicle stopped condition sensor;
c) a controller receiving an output of said vehicle operational state sensor and said temperature sensor, a vehicle stopped condition and occupancy state and temperature history database, and a control algorithm including a set of temperature criteria for triggering at least one passenger/animal release measure in response to said vehicle being in a stopped condition and a predetermined temperature being sensed;
and
d) at least one passenger/animal release activator connected to said controller for releasing at least one of a passenger/animal restraint or unlocking or opening an exit or escape passage.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Hot vehicle safety system and methods of preventing passenger entrapment and heat suffocation

Life of this patent

Hot vehicle safety system and methods of preventing passenger entrapment and heat suffocation

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims36