FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to "Communications, Electrical" and to the directed toward "traffic and vehicle" and
more particularly this invention elaborates the "automatically responsive to condition of vehicle" and also the
further "and controlling".
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There are a large number of patents directed toward insuring that seat belts, when installed in a vehicle, are
used by the occupants thereof. These are so designed that in addition to the sensing of a presence on a seat
there in required a coupling of the seat belt. Other systems like that provided a "foolproof" seat belt system.
Insofar as is known, the above-identified systems and others known propose to employ not only a switch
activated by the weight of a passenger but also require that the belt be buckled. Signals such as flashers,
buzzers, etc., are used to call attention to the failure to fasten the belt and in some systems the starter solenoid
is also rendered inoperative unless the belt is fastened. These systems can be defeated in their purpose by
those who do not want to "buckle up". To avoid the required coupling of the belt over the lap, the operator
may defeat the known systems by coupling the belt behind the seat or by coupling the belt and then laying the
coupled belt at the rear of the seat. This prevents this defeating of the system by using one of two methods of
relay systems, either of which must be actuated in a determined sequence in order to energize the starter
solenoid. In other words, the system of the present invention requires that when the occupant of a seat leaves
the seat, the seat belt and harness must be disengaged and when the seat is reoccupied, the belt and harness
must be open or opened and then be connected.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This is partly summarised by its objects. This provides a circuit and system for vehicles equipped with safety
belts and, if desired, shoulder harnesses. The system requires a positive "buckling up" or connection of the
seat belt and harness after a driver and/or passenger(s) occupy the seat. This also aims to provide a circuit and
system for automobiles with safety seat belts and shoulder or similar harnesses, wherein the belts and
harnesses cannot be left linked behind the seat to avoid "buckling up" in a safe manner for vehicle occupants.
This circuit includes safety belts and/or shoulder harnesses with electrical conductors and connectors to
complete an electric conduction means. The circuit and system connect relays using a latching or stepping
relay. In either mode, the seat belt retractor for each seat belt in the vehicle and a switch under each seat must
be series connected so that latching relays established for each seat position are activated when a seat belt
and/or shoulder harness is moved to operate the retractor and then relaxed to allow the retractor to return the
belt and/or harness to the relaxed condition. Latching or stepping relays sequence these relays and circuit
contacts to prohibit evading the belt safety system by leaving the seat belt and/or shoulder harness closed on
or behind the seat,

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Seat belts saved millions of lives with reduced injuries. But in certain situation during an accident the seat belt buckle may get jammed and the passengers get stuck, as the buckle won’t release the webbing. This may lead to a dangerous situation where the driver and the passengers to be in grave danger. In this scenario the very mechanism used to save life could end up in taking life too. Since the introduction of seatbelt there has not been any innovation in preventing this failure. The idea is to create a system where the seatbelt mount ejects automatically during a severe crash, which reduces the risk of the passengers being stuck in their seats. Objective is to create a mechanism where the seatbelt buckles un-mount from its mounting position which is controlled by the on-board ECU of the vehicle. This system takes the data from the crash sensors to detect whether a crash is occurred and then by the data provided by the gyroscope sensors to know whether the vehicle reached a stable position to trigger the mechanism to un-mount the seatbelt. When assembled the floor panel of the automobile through which the cable is passed leaving a closed loop in the passenger compartment which extends between the seat cushion and back cushion of an automotive seat. When the nut and lock nut are drawn into flush engagement with the lower disc a very secure floor connection has been made. A hole is drilled through the floor panel of the automobile and pressure disk washer is drawn into engagement with the outer side of the floor panel. The bolt extending through the floor connector is secured by nuts and provides a tighter floor connection of such strength as to withstand unusual shocks of collision loading. The angle between the legs of the floor connector is obtuse. Thus the centre belt passes between seat cushion and back cushion to form a smooth transition plane free from twist or kinks.Attaching extender directly to the side frame of the front passenger seat and driver seat. In a safety belt system for automobiles, the combination including: door mounted angle plates having one leg attached to the edge of an automobile door, and the other leg of which extends into the passenger compartment of an automobile; a floor connector cable loop, extending upwardly between the seat and back cushions of an automobile seat from the side frame of said seats; a pair of balls fixedly attached to the ends of said cable loop; a pair of twin slotted discs and having a bolt hole there through; a bolt insertable through the bolt hole in said discs and through a floor panel of an automobile drawing said discs into sandwiched relationship and locking said balls into the .
Said slots; an outside belt attachable adjustably to each of the said door mounted angle plates; inside belts at attached to said cable loop and extending over the said seat of an automobile; and a fastener adjustably fastening the free ends of said belt as they are drawn snugly around automobile occupants. In 2004, for controlling the front impact, ECU was developed for driver and passenger seats, pretensioners, side airbags and curtain shield airbags. Here, the airbag ECU is located in the front side which is attached with the sensor placed in the vehicle compartment. The entire control is done by the microcontrollers.Seat belt systems and seat belt buckle tactile sensors exist are standard in every vehicle. Tactile sensors are reliable and low cost. However, they are limited in that the safety system generally does not know if a passenger is sitting in a seat that is unbuckled. Obviously, an empty seat with an unbuckled belt should not set off a warning signal, whereas a seat with a child and an unbuckled belt should. Some auto manufactures have begun to provide vision camera systems into vehicles for applications such as driver alertness monitoring, passenger seat occupant classification or to detect children accidentally left in the rear passenger seats. While cameras can be used to view the seating area, it remains desirable to develop a simple and inexpensive method of visually determining whether a seat belt is buckled. In particular, it remains desirable to develop detection software which can reliably interpret the visual data provided by a camera in a computationally-efficient manner. A method for determining whether a seat belt assembly is buckled, the seat belt assembly having a plurality of indicators distributed over predetermined portions of the seat belt assembly using image recognition, the method comprising: illuminating at least a portion of the seat belt assembly using a light source. receiving a reflected image from at least a portion of the seat belt assembly at an image sensor. identifying at least one of the plurality of indicators from the reflected image using an image processor; and comparing the identified at least one of the plurality of indicators to a predefined set of indicators that characterizes at least one particular status of the seat belt assembly.
Image processor can apply known image-processing techniques to the captured image. For example, it can decompose edges from the captured image using known edge filters; and then apply feature-matching software (described in greater detail below) to predetermined edge features of the various indicators. Image process could also decompose wavelet coefficients from the captured image using known wavelet filters. The feature matching software would then multiply a wavelet decomposed vector of coefficients from the image with predefined wavelet-based operator vectors. The predefined wavelet-based operator vectors could be generated from pre-trained videos of seat belt related features and usage situations. These techniques are preferably applied by software running on image processor 36, but could also be implemented using firmware or hardware within the processor. The implementation of image processor is not particularly limited, and can include a general microcontroller or a digital signal processor, along with memory storage. Referring now in particular to the seat belt safety system as depicted in FIG. 1, there is shown a preferred circuit in which a logical operational sequence of "buckling up" must be accomplished before the vehicle in which the system is installed can be started. From a storage battery 10 positive (plus) current is fed through conductor 12 to a junction 13 which feeds the plus side contact 14 of a momentary start switch. Bar 15 is disposed to be pushed into engagement with both contact 14 and an open side contact 16. From junction 13 the plus voltage also leads to the plus contact 18 and blade portion 19 of the ignition switch 20. Contact 16 represents the open or other side connection of the momentary start switch 15 from which the plus voltage is fed through conductor 23 to open contact 25 of a retractor device 27. The retractor includes a cam plate 28 which cam plate as the retractor is actuated is rotated in either a clockwise or a counter clockwise direction. The plate cam is shown with its lobe position on when the retractor is in the relaxed condition and with bar 29 in conducting relationship with both contacts 30 and 31.
A conductor 33 connects contact 30 with a contact 35 of a retractor device 36 which is similar to, if not identical with, the retractor device 27. This retractor device 36 has a cam plate 38 which is rotated in either a clockwise or a counter clockwise direction. The cam plate 38 is shown its lobe positioned as when with the retractor in the relaxed condition and with a bar 40 in current conducting relationship with contact 35 and a contact 41. Referring again to the retractor device 27, and open conductor bar 43 is connected to contact 44 and from said contact a conductor 46 leads to and is attached to a contact 47 and an attached conductor bar 48. A contact 50 is attached to conductor 52 attached to a contact 54 in latching relay 55. This contact 54 is attached to conductor bar 56. From contact 41 a conductor 58 leads to an open contact in a seat switch 60. This switch has a conductor bar 62 attached to contact 63 connected to the plus side of battery 10 while the other end of conductor bar 62 is in engagement with contact 64. The seat switch 60 is actuated by the downward movement of a plunger 66 when this driver seat is occupied. From contact 64 a conductor 68 carries current to a contact 69 in latching relay 55. From contact 31 to a conductor 71 carries current to a contact 72 in latching relay 55. A conductor bar 74 is attached to contact 75 which is connected by lead 76 to the latching magnet 77. From a contact 80 a conductor 81 leads to a junction 82 from whence conductor 84 leads to a contact 85 in a retractor device 86 which is similar to or like retractors 27 and 36. Also leading from junction 82 is conductor 88 which is connected at 89 to a conductor bar 90 in engagement with a contact 91 of a three-pole switch 92. This switch is the seat weight detecting switch activated by a plunger 94 attached to the seat and moved downwardly by the weight of a passenger. The upper pole of the three pole switch 92 is fed plus voltage to a contact 95 from the battery 10 by a conductor, not shown. A conductor bar 96 carries this current to either contact 97 or contact 98 when there is a weight in the seat to move plunger 94 downwardly. From contact 98 a conductor 99 extends to a contact 100 which, as shown, is in contact with a conductor bar 102 of the retractor 86. This conductor bar is attached to contact 103 which carries current by conductor 104 to a contact 106 of a retractor 108 which is like retractors 86, 36 and 27. A cam plate member 110 of the retractor 86 engages conductor bar 102 or a conductor bar 112 during its two extremes of rotational movement.
Bar 112 is pivotally connected to contact 114 and from this contact a conductor 115 is series connected to contact 116 attached to conductor bar 117 shown in open condition in retractor 108. A cam plate 118, as shown, has conductor bar 120 in a closed or current carrying condition with a contact 122 while contact 123 is in open condition with the conductor bar 117, as shown. From contact 122 current is fed through conductor 125 to an engaged contact 126 of a latching relay 128 which is like relay 55 above-identified. From contact 123 a conductor 130 carries current to open contact 131 of relay 128. A conductor bar 133 connected to contact 134 is shown as in contact with the contact 126. The contact 134 is attached to lead 135 which is associated with the latching magnet 136 of relay 128. A conductor bar 138 is in open condition with contact 131 and is connected to contact 140 which is connected to a conductor 141 which ends at a terminal 143. A contact 145 is in open condition with conductor bar 133 which is connected to lead 146 which is connected to contact 97 in the three-pole switch associated with the passenger seating or loading. From junction 143 a conductor 148 leads to an end 149 of a coil 150 associated with the holding magnet 152 of a holding relay 154. From a ground and a starter solenoid 156 a conductor 157 leads to a contact 158 of the holding relay 154. A conductor bar 160 is in open condition with contact 158 and is connected to contact 161 which is connected by lead 162 to junction 163 which permits a tap-off of the current through conductor 23. End 165 of coil 150 is attached to lead 166 and to junction 168. From junction 168 a lead 169 extends to junction 170. A buzzer 172 is attached to junction 170 and at its other end to ground. A resistor 174 of a determined capacity is attached to junction 170 and to contact 21. From junction 168 the ground side of the circuit is carried by conductor 175 to junction 177 from whence flexible lead 178 extends to the connection end 180 of a seat belt member 182 as represented by the dashed outline. Also from the junction 177 a conductor 184 leads to contact 185 in engagement with the lowermost pole of switch 92. This lower pole is represented by conducting bar 186 which is in turn attached to contact 188 which is serially attached to conductor 190. The left end of conductor 190 is attached to junction 191 from which flexible lead 192 extends to the connecting terminal end 194 of seat belt half 195 shown in dashed outline. From junction 191 a conductor 197 extends to connection 198 which is attached to flexible lead 200 extending to the connecting end 202 of the right-hand seat belt member 203 as represented also by dashed outline. A left-hand seat belt portion 205, also shown in dashed outline, has a connecting end 206 of a flexible lead 208 extending to connection 210 representing attachment to ground.
In the use and operation of the seat and shoulder harness safety system as shown in FIG. 1, it is contemplated that neither the driver nor passenger has entered the vehicle and that the retractors of the seat belts and shoulder harnesses are in a relaxed and open condition. Upon the driver entering the vehicle and placing himself on the driver's seat, the plunger 66 is moved downwardly to cause the seat switch 60 to be actuated. Conductor bar 62 is moved from contact 64 to contact 59. Assuming that each seat is equipped with both seat belts and separate shoulder harness, the driver "buckles up" by connecting belt portion 205 to portion 203. This causes retractor 36 to be rotated clockwise to bring the cam 38 from engagement with bar 40 to conductor bar 48. When the shoulder harness, not shown, is connected, the retractor 27 is rotated clockwise to move the lobe of cam plate 28 from closing engagement of the bar 29 to closing engagement of the bar 43. Assuming that there is no passenger in place, the retractors 86 and 108 and three-pole switch 92 will stay in the condition shown in FIG. 1. The driver now buckled up inserts a key into the ignition switch 20 and, with the turning of the key, the contact bar 15 is moved from the condition of FIG. 1 to engage contacts 14 and 16 so that a plus voltage flows to starting relay 154. With pulling conductor bar 160 in engagement with contact 158, current flows through closed conductor bar 160 to the starter solenoid 156 of the vehicle. Starter solenoid 156 is energized and the engine is turned over and hopefully started. If the driver decides to remove the shoulder harness or unbuckle the seat belt, either of which disconnects the established ground through conductor 175, the positive current flowing through blade 19 will cause the buzzer 172 to sound since a ground line is established through resistor 174 and buzzer 172. When the driver unbuckle and leaves the vehicle the released plunger 66 by a biasing means not shown, is moved upward to cause conductor bar 62 to again move to contact 64 and a plus voltage to flow to contact 69 of the latching relay 55 which at that time was in contact with conductor 74. This causes a plus voltage to flow and energize magnet 77, causing the relay to move conductor bars 56 and 74 to the position shown. When a driver re-enters a car and seats himself, the plunger 66 moves conductor bar 62 to engage contact 59 and a plus voltage to flow to contact 41. If, and providing that, the driver returned his seat belt and shoulder harness to the uncoupled and relaxed condition, the retractor cam plates 28 and 28 are as shown. A plus voltage will flow to conductor bar 40 and bar 29 thence to contact 72 and then through bar 74 to energize relay 55 and cause a position to be taken which is opposite that shown. When the driver "buckles up" and "hooks up" the seat belt a ground is established through conductors 208 and 200, thence switch 92 and then conductors 184 and 175 to relay 154. Conductor bars 43 and 48 are connected to contacts 25 and 50 so that when the key is turned a plus voltage flows through contact bar 15 and closed conductor bars 43 and 48. This plus voltage flows through bar 56 which is now in contact with contact 80 then through conductors 81 and 88 and with no passenger in the seat to actuate plunger 94 through closed conductor bar 90 and conductor 148 and places a plus voltage on holding relay 154 and conductor bar 160 to close and energize the starter solenoid. If a passenger is in the car with the driver, the passenger's weight causes plunger 94 to "make" conductor bar 96 with contact 98; to "break" conductor bar 90 from contact 91 and conductor bar 186 to "break" from contact 185. By "breaking" bar 90 and contact 91 plus voltage from conductor 88 cannot go to the relay magnet 152 but does flow from junction 82 to contact 85. Providing the passenger seat belt and shoulder retractors were restored to the relaxed condition the last time the vehicle was used, the plus voltage on conductor bar 96 flows through 98 of the three-pole underneath passenger switch 92 and then through conductor 99, contact 100, bar 102, conductor 104, bar 120, conductor 125, bar 133 and the magnet 136 to energize the relay 128 and cause it to set opposite, as shown. Now when the passenger fastens his seat belts 195 and 182 and the shoulder harness, the retractors are rotated so that the cam plates 110 and 118 "make" contacts 85 and 123, allowing a plus voltage supplied from the driver's relay 55 to flow from junction 82 to flow through conductor bar 112, conductor 115, bar 117, conductor 130, bar 138, conductor 141 and 148 to holding relay 154. Now with the passenger seat belt and shoulder harness connected as in FIG. 3, the ground from connection 210 flows to and through conductor 175 to the magnet in relay 150 enabling the starter solenoid 156 to be energized as above-described. If, after starting the engine of the vehicle, either the seat belt of the passenger or driver is unbuckled (unhooked) the ground lead 175 is broken and will cause a plus voltage to flow to and through the buzzer 172. If the seat belt is left fastened or is refastened, the buzzer is silent or will cease to sound. For simplification, only a driver's seat and a single passenger's seat system is shown in FIG. 1. Any number of passenger seats may be added using a series circuit following from and each using a relay such as 128, retractors 108 and 86 and a three-pole switch 92. The grounding circuit, which may be used with a shoulder harness strap, has not been shown but where desired or required would be in series with the grounding circuit.
A seat belt system for automotive vehicles and the like in which there is provided a plurality of seat belts arranged as pairs with each seat belt having at least one retractor providing a portion of an interlock system requiring said seat belt to be extended after the seat is occupied in order to permit the vehicle's starter solenoid to be actuated by a current supplied by a battery carried in said vehicle, said system including: (a) a plurality of seat belts arranged as pairs, one pair of belts for the driver and the other pairs for potential passengers with each pair positioned and secured to the vehicle so as to accommodate one occupant when seated on a seat of the vehicle; (b) at least one retractor associated with each seat belt pair and adapted to retain one of said belts of the pair, said retractor secured to the vehicle so that said associated seat belt when moved to and from an extended condition causes a cam operatively connected to said retractor to separately engage one of a pair of switches associated therewith so that with the retractor in repose condition a first switch is closed and the second switch is open and when the retractor is moved to the extended condition the moved cam disengages from engagement with the first switch which opens while the moved cam engages the second switch and causes it to be closed; (c) an ignition relay having a switch which is actuated by a holding coil which when energized closes said switch and establishes a conductive circuit from the vehicle battery to the starter solenoid; (d) a starter logic including a key-operated ignition switch and the ignition relay, said starter logic being actuated when the key is turned and to an electrical current to be fed from said ignition switch to the driver's seat retractor and from this retractor only when the retractor is extended to cause the first associated switch to be opened and the second associated switch to be closed, and in the absence of additional passengers said electrical current to be conducted to one side of said ignition relay coil, said electrical current at the same time being fed to the second switch of the next passenger's seat belt retractor; (e) a plurality of seat switches carried by the vehicle and associated with the seat so that one of said seat switches is associated with each seat belt pair and the retractor used with the belt pair; (f) a plurality of relay logics with an individual logic being exclusively actuated by each associated seat switch, each of said relay logics having two electrically actuated states.
the first state being effective when said seat in unoccupied and the second state being effective when said seat is occupied said second state establishing a circuit between said second switch of the retractor and ignition relay holding coil, said logic returnable to its first state only when the seat again becomes unoccupied, each seat switch being actuated by the weight of an occupant on the seat immediately above to open one switch portion thereof and by closing a second switch to transfer a voltage to said relay logic through said retractor, and with the absence of an occupant the switch returns to its "at rest" condition with the voltage sent through the first switch and with the second switch moving to open condition; (g) an audible signal having a first side connected to a battery source and the other to a ground source, the first side being connected when the ignition switch is closed; (h) a conductive circuit from a ground source to the audible signal and ground side of the ignition relay coil, said conductive circuit being established only when the seat belts to all occupied seats are connected, this circuit when connected providing a conductive path to the ground side of the ignition relay coil to energize this coil and close the relay switch to energize the starter solenoid, said circuit also connected to the first side of the audible signal and when conductive renders the signal ineffective, this circuit including a by-pass switch associated with each passenger seat switch, the seat switch of the driver having no by-pass switch, said by-pass switch being normally closed to provide a conductive path portion of the circuit until opened by the weight of a passenger on the switch, and (i) a series circuit extending from the driver's seat switch and retractor to the associated relay logic, said circuit connected to the retractor switch and associated logic so that the actuation of a seat switch with the retractor in its "at rest" condition will move the associated relay logic from its "at rest" state to its second state by a voltage fed to and through the actuated seat switch and through the closed first switch of the retractor to the relay logic, the relay logic remaining in this state during the occupation of the seat and connecting of the associated seat belt, and with the ground conductive circuit established by the connecting of the associated seat belt of each occupied seat to establish a conductive path around the opened by-pass switch of each occupied seat, the disconnection of any seat belt of an occupied seat causing a discontinuance of the ground circuit and actuation of the audible signal, and when the occupant leaves the seat the switch is closed to feed a voltage to the relay logic to reset this logic to its first "at rest" state.
A seat belt system as in which each occupant seat space has two retractors associated with a seat switch, each retractor having a cam disposed to actuate at its two extremes of movement only one of two switches associated with the retractor, the first switches of these retractors being series connected in one circuit and the second switches of the retractors being series connected in a second circuit so that the two retractors, to render the audible signal ineffective must be used to provide a like arrangement of the cams and switches in both retractors. First logic means connected with said seat switch means and said seat belt switch means for producing a START logic level output when and only when said seat occupancy responsive switch means are actuated prior to actuation of said seat belt in-use responsive switch means, said logic means producing a START logic level output when said seat belt in-use responsive switch means are deactuated or when said seat occupancy responsive switch means are deactuated, second logic means connected with said first logic means and said starter and ignition circuit for producing a START logic level output in response to actuation of said ignition switch to said START position subsequent to production of said START logic level output from said first logic means, third logic means for controlling energization of said starter circuit and permitting energization of said starter circuit only in response to said START logic level output of said second logic means, visual indicator means, audible indicator means, fourth logic means responsive to the output of said first logic means for energizing said indicator means in response to said START logic level

We Claims:

1. A seat belt system for automotive vehicles and the like in which there is provided a plurality of seat belts arranged as pairs with each seat belt having at least one retractor providing a portion of an interlock system requiring said seat belt to be extended after the seat is occupied in order to permit the vehicle's starter solenoid to be actuated by a current supplied by a battery carried in said vehicle.
2. A plurality of seat belts arranged as pairs, one pair of belts for the driver and the other pairs for potential passengers with each pair positioned and secured to the vehicle so as to accommodate one occupant when seated on a seat of the vehicle.
3. An ignition relay having a switch which is actuated by a holding coil which when energized closes said switch and establishes a conductive circuit from the vehicle battery to the starter solenoid.
4. an ignition relay having a switch which is actuated by a holding coil which when energized closes said switch and establishes a conductive circuit from the vehicle battery to the starter solenoid; (d) a starter logic including a key-operated ignition switch and the ignition relay.
5. The disconnection of any seat belt of an occupied seat causing a discontinuance of the ground circuit and actuation of the audible signal, and when the occupant leaves the seat the switch is closed to feed a voltage to the relay logic to reset this logic to its first "at rest" state.
6. A plurality of seat switches carried by the vehicle and associated with the seat so that one of said seat switches is associated with each seat belt pair and the retractor used with the belt pair.
7. The seat switch of the driver having no by-pass switch, said by-pass switch being normally closed to provide a conductive path portion of the circuit until opened by the weight of a passenger on the switch