Emergency Cooling and Safety Alerts for Child Car Seats: Smart Protection in Critical Moments

Introduction

Child safety in vehicles is a top priority for parents and caregivers. Yet, tragic incidents still occur when children are left in cars during extreme temperatures. Our patented child passenger safety seat emergency cooling and notification system offers a cutting-edge solution that combines advanced cooling technology with real-time alerts, ensuring that children are protected in dangerous situations. By integrating smart technology into child safety seats, this system provides a proactive, life-saving tool for families and caregivers.

The Risk of Overheating in Cars

Every year, incidents of children left in hot cars tragically result in heatstroke, dehydration, and in some cases, fatalities. Cars can heat up rapidly, even with windows cracked, leading to unsafe conditions in just minutes. Standard car seats, while effective in positioning and securing children, do not provide protection against overheating or alert caregivers in the event of dangerous temperature rises.

For parents, especially busy or distracted ones, it’s critical to have a safety system that not only cools the child in an emergency but also provides immediate notifications. This added layer of safety can prevent tragedies by ensuring prompt intervention when a child’s environment becomes unsafe.

A Smart Cooling and Notification System for Maximum Protection

Our emergency cooling and notification system integrates a cooling mechanism directly into the child car seat, automatically activating when the interior temperature of the vehicle reaches dangerous levels. This innovative technology cools the child to prevent overheating, providing an immediate solution while caregivers are notified through a connected app or system. This dual approach—active cooling combined with real-time alerts—ensures that children remain safe even in critical situations.

The system’s notification feature sends instant alerts to caregivers, nearby contacts, or emergency services, ensuring that someone is immediately aware of the situation. The combination of proactive cooling and quick alerts offers comprehensive protection, particularly in the summer months or in regions prone to extreme temperatures. Additionally, the system can be seamlessly integrated into various car seat designs, making it an adaptable solution for manufacturers.

Key Benefits

Emergency Cooling: Automatically activates to cool the child and prevent overheating during high temperatures.
Real-Time Alerts: Sends notifications to caregivers, contacts, or emergency services when the child is at risk.
Integrated Smart Technology: Easy to use and adaptable to most child car seat designs, providing seamless protection.
Enhanced Child Safety: Combines cooling and alerting mechanisms for comprehensive child passenger protection.

Why This System is Essential for Child Safety

Licensing this child passenger safety seat emergency cooling and notification system offers car seat manufacturers and automotive companies a crucial feature that can save lives. This technology represents a proactive approach to child safety, providing peace of mind to parents and ensuring that children remain safe from the dangers of extreme temperatures. With its combination of real-time alerts and emergency cooling, this system is a vital addition to any child safety seat design.

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Abstract
Claims

A system for detecting hot car seat situations, manually cooling the child in those situations, and facilitating one or more alert notifications is disclosed. An apparatus receives sensor data that it uses to detect the presence of a child in a car seat in a vehicle. Multiple sensors provide added security against false positives. When a child is detected, the apparatus activates a cooling flow of air towards the child if the temperature rises above a threshold. The apparatus waits until the vehicle is not moving and off before initiating notifications to one or more subscribing devices. Once off, and once the temperature of the child further rises or has the air flow on for a period of time, the apparatus sends a notification to the subscribing devices. If the child is not removed within a set period of time, then emergency responders are notified.

What is claimed is:

1. A child cooling and alerting apparatus, comprising:

a first sensor configured to detect a presence of a child in a car seat with which the child cooling and alerting apparatus is in communication;

a second sensor configured to detect a temperature of the child present in the car seat;

a fan configured to blow air directed at the child in the car seat in response to an activation command;

a processor configured, in response to the first sensor detecting the presence of the child, to compare the detected temperature of the child to a threshold temperature, assert the activation command in response to the detected temperature exceeding the threshold temperature, and activate an alert notification in response to the assertion of the activation command; and

a transceiver configured to transmit the alert notification to a subscribing device.

2. The child cooling and alerting apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a third sensor configured to detect an ambient air temperature; and

a global positioning system device configured to determine a position of the child cooling and alerting apparatus and communicate the position to the subscribing device in response to the transceiver transmitting the alert notification to the subscribing device.

3. The child cooling and alerting apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

an accelerometer sensor configured to detect movement of the child cooling and alerting apparatus, wherein the processor is further configured to prevent activation of the alert notification until the detected movement falls below a stationary threshold.

4. The child cooling and alerting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to activate the alert notification in response to a first time period elapsing after the activation command is asserted, and the transceiver is further configured to:

re-transmit the alert notification to the subscribing device after a second time period after the first time period has elapsed; and

re-transmit the alert notification to an emergency response provider after a third time period has elapsed after the second time period.

5. The child cooling and alerting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to activate the alert notification after the activation command is asserted, and the transceiver is further configured to:

re-transmit the alert notification to the subscribing device according to a specified periodicity; and

re-transmit the alert notification to an emergency response provider in response to a number of retransmissions according to the specified periodicity reaching a threshold transmission number.

6. The child cooling and alerting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first sensor comprises:

a weight sensor configured to detect a weight of the child in the car seat; and

a sound monitor sensor configured to detect noise from the child,

wherein the processor is further configured to delay comparing the detected temperature of the child to the threshold temperature and activating the alert notification until both the weight sensor detects the weight and the sound monitor sensor detects the noise to confirm the presence of the child.

7. The child cooling and alerting apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the transceiver further comprises a Bluetooth transceiver configured to communicate with a vehicle Bluetooth transceiver of a vehicle in which the car seat is situated, and

the processor is further configured to detect, via the Bluetooth transceiver communicating with the vehicle Bluetooth transceiver, that the vehicle is running with climate control, and delay activating the alert notification until connection with the vehicle Bluetooth transceiver is broken.

8. A method for child cooling and alerting, comprising:

detecting, by a first sensor of a child cooling and alerting apparatus, a presence of a child in a car seat;

detecting, by a second sensor of the child cooling and alerting apparatus, a temperature of the child present in the car seat;

comparing, by a processor of the child cooling and alerting apparatus, the detected temperature to a threshold temperature;

activating, by the processor, a fan of the child cooling and alerting apparatus in response to the detected temperature exceeding the threshold temperature; and

transmitting, by a transceiver of the child cooling and alerting apparatus, an alert notification to a subscribing device in response to the activating the fan.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining, by a global positioning system of the child cooling and alerting apparatus, a position of the child cooling and alerting apparatus; and

including, by the processor, the position in the alert notification to the subscribing device.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

detecting, by an accelerometer of the child cooling and alerting apparatus, movement of the child cooling and alerting apparatus; and

preventing, by the processor, activating of the alert notification until the movement detected falls below a stationary threshold.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the transmitting the alert notification further comprises delaying transmission until a first time period has elapsed after the activating the fan, the method further comprising:

re-transmitting, by the transceiver, the alert notification to the subscribing device after a second time period after the first time period has elapsed; and

re-transmitting, by the transceiver, the alert notification to an emergency response provider after a third time period has elapsed after the second time period.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

re-transmitting, by the transceiver, the alert notification to the subscribing device according to a specified periodicity; and

re-transmitting, by the transceiver, the alert notification to an emergency response provider in response to a number of retransmissions according to the specified periodicity reaching a threshold transmission number.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the first sensor comprises a weight sensor configured to detect a weight of the child and a sound monitor sensor configured to detect noise from the child, the method further comprising:

delaying, by the processor, the activating until both the weight sensors detects the weight and the sound monitor sensor detects the noise to confirm the presence of the child.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

communicating, by the transceiver via a Bluetooth protocol, a vehicle transceiver in which the car seat is situated; and

detecting, by the processor via the transceiver communicating with the vehicle transceiver, that the vehicle is running with climate control; and

delaying, by the processor, the transmitting the alert notification until connection with the vehicle transceiver is broken.

15. An apparatus, comprising:

a housing configured to couple to a car seat;

a sensor configured to detect a temperature of a child present in the car seat;

a fan configured within a chamber of the housing and arranged to move air out of the housing and directed toward the child in response to an activation command;

a nozzle in fluid communication with the chamber and configured to receive the air from the fan and direct the air toward the child;

a processor configured to compare the detected temperature to a threshold temperature, assert the activation command in response to the detected temperature reaching the threshold temperature, and activate an alert notification in response to the assertion of the activation command; and

a transceiver configured to transmit the alert notification to a subscribing device.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the nozzle comprises a plurality of independently adjustable nozzles.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising:

a global positioning system device configured to determine a location of the apparatus and provide the location to the processor for inclusion with the alert notification; and

an accelerometer sensor configured to detect movement of the housing, the processor further configured to prevent activation of the alert notification until the detected movement falls below a stationary threshold.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to delay the transmission of the alert notification until a first time period has elapsed after activating the fan, and the transceiver is further configured to:

re-transmit the alert notification to the subscribing device after a second time period after the first time period has elapsed; and

re-transmit the alert notification to an emergency response provider after a third time period has elapsed after the second time period.

19. The apparatus of claim 15,

further comprising a strap system configured to releasably couple the housing to the car seat.

20. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the transceiver comprises a cellular transceiver and a Wi-Fi transceiver, the processor being further configured to:

determine which of the cellular transceiver and the Wi-Fi transceiver has a best connection for transmission of the alert notification and make a selection for transmission of the alert notification based on the determination.

Title

Child passenger safety seat emergency cooling and notification system

Inventor(s)

V Bishop Benjamin Curry

Assignee(s)

Individual

Patent #

9937830

Patent Date

April 10, 2018