-- Patent awarded in 2018 --
Read HERE why kids are still baked alive in America
051622283457
Hundreds
of American kids – and counting! -- have been baked alive in hot cars since the body count started in 1998 (many hundreds more died before) and
still now, in the 21st century when Curiosity is exploring the Red
Planet, the “answer” to this tragedy is: complaining about the problem (i.e., humans are not perfect, they are forgetful), doing the body count, forwarding
condolences and advising parents and caregivers to use teddy-bears as
reminders!
“Complaining about a problem without posing a solution
is called whining.”
is called whining.”
It’s high time to stop whining and finally come up with and implement a reliable and
affordable SOLUTION that will end the out of control slaughter of our kids and
pets forgotten in hot cars. And NO, in the age of the Large Hadron Collider
and genome editing, stuffed
animals (which surely worked just fine in the Bronze Age) used as reminders -- in the 21st Century! -- is NOT the
solution …
Given the
countless examples of drivers forgetting precious stuff in their cars, there is
an obvious need for a watchdog system to notify the drivers to not leave their
cars without whatever they are supposed to take with them.
By far the
worst-case scenario is when the driver forgets his infant restrained in the
child safety seat, only to find the toddler, a couple of hours later, baked and
… dead. The issue is so serious – see HERE –
that there is a must for responsible people to find a solution that won’t allow
these kind of dramas to ever happen again.
Also how
many times drivers in a rush to catch a plane realize only on the airplane that
they forgot on their cars’ back seat their cameras, or presents for the
Birthday they are going to, or whatever other important item? And so forth.
The
Never4get.us consists of 2(two) seat covers (each incorporating a weight or
pressure sensor), power source and an alarm. Because the most traumatic
incidents happen when a driver forgets his/her infant in the car, the following
will be explained from the child safety seat perspective.
The 2 seat
covers will be (see Fig. I and Fig. II):
- One
for the child safety seat: Child
Seat Cover (Pad-C);
- One
for the driver seat: Driver Seat
Cover (Pad-D).
More practical is the wireless version of Fig. I, presented in Fig. II where Pad-C contains the NOS (or weight/pressure sensor), battery, LED (for battery level) and a Transmitter while Pad-D contains the NCS, Battery, LED, Speaker and Receiver:
Whenever
something is placed/removed on/from either seat cover, the alarm will be
triggered or not according to the following Logic Table:
So the alarm
will be triggered every time the child is in his safety seat (provided with the
Child Seat Cover) and the driver just stepped out of the car (i.e., s/he just
removed him/herself from the Driver Seat Cover). With this system never ever
again a mother or a father could pretend that forgetting their toddler in the
car was only an honest mistake, and a frightening number of tragedies will be
avoided.
NOTE that the alarm’s sound doesn’t have to be
an annoying noise; a lullaby song that will not bother even a
sleeping child will perfectly do the job. Or, for the drivers (or kids)
that are too sensitive to sounds, the sound device can be replaced by emergency
lights (similar to police strobe lights that are known to get any driver’s
attention) inside the vehicle.
The seat
pads (Pad-D and Pad-C) can have a pressure or a weight sensor, although the simplest and
cheapest version should have a normally open switch for the Child Seat Cover
and a normally closed switch for the Driver Seat Cover (which is how I built my
working prototype); the normally open switch for the Child Seat Cover is
designed to sense every load 1/4lb and beyond, so it’s sensitive enough to
detect a tablet, laptop or smartphone whenever it will be placed on the Pad-C. Note that Pad-C can be used anywhere inside the vehicle -- on the front passenger seat if needed -- and can also be used outside vehicles, as we'll see below in the "Universal Forget-Me-Not" presentation.
NOTE that ALL the cars have
Forget-Me-Not devices (for at least headlights on, key in the ignition and seat
belts), these are standards that ALL the drivers are used to,
and people do not remove these systems or add switches to disable them; this
is how things work and everybody is used to it. So there is no need to add
a switch that will disable the never4get.us, which is, among all the car-related
Forget-Me-Not devices, the only life-saver. If one forgets the
headlights on the worst that can happen is a dead battery, but when s/he
forgets the kid strapped in the Child Safety Seat something way more precious
than the battery will die…
The principle
the never4get.us works is similar to the warning system that is triggered when
a driver is about to leave his/her car with the lights on (i.e., opening the
car’s door – from the inside -- while forgetting to turn off the lights). But
the never4get.us is designed to require no installation skills: the only thing
the buyer has to do is to place/strap the 2(two) seat covers in the designated
spots: One on the driver seat, and the second one on the child safety seat, or,
if no child safety seat, plainly on the back (or passenger) seat. The system
works on battery, with an option of being plugged into the cigarette lighter. A
“low battery” warning device is also included.
Note that
for a few more dollars, wireless and/or luxury versions will match the needs of
more sophisticated/demanding drivers.
Some
relevant links: KidsAndCars.org, nhtsa.gov and safekids.org.
The wireless
version, with multiple Pad-C’s (for each child seat), can be extremely useful –
and, in many cases, lifesaving -- in School Busses, Daycare Vans and the like.
Pad-D will be on the Driver’s seat. For a Daycare Van with n seats for children
using n Pad-C’s the Logic Table is obvious if in Fig. 3 instead of one NOS
(Normally Open Switch) will be n NOS-es in parallel, so the driver will always
be aware whether there is anything/anybody left on one or more of the Pad-C’s.
Never4get.us
is the safest* and most affordable** forget-me-not
device.
*safest and most reliable: Just flip a light switch up and down
10,000 times and you’ll see that the light will turn on and off 10,000 times
without one miss. Never4get.us is just brilliant in its simplicity. By
comparison all the other technological solutions out there are way less reliable, more expensive and do not offer
the protection of never4get.us even when they work as designed. A mother (with
a kid in the child seat) can stop the car in some parking lot for a smoke break
and then start talking over her cellphone, right outside the car. She’s not far
enough (see the proximity concept HERE)
from the car so her forget-me-not device alarm will NOT go off and the baby is
sleeping (i.e., no sounds from the kid). And the mother keeps talking over the
phone like women do. Can you see the picture? Never4get.us alerts
the driver the very second s/he steps out of the car and there is something on
the "child seat cover."
**most affordable: Never4get.us is 5 TIMES CHEAPER (around
$30/unit) than “Evenflo’s smart car seat” which doesn’t quite work anyway.
“Evenflo’s smart car seat” is designed to work ONLY in vehicles made
after 2008 while never4get.us works for ANY vehicle (from ANY year)
including ALL the Amish buggies.
Also:
never4get.us not only doesn’t require any installation tools or skills but can
be used immediately after unpacking the product: just place Pad-D on the Driver
seat and Pad-C on the Child seat and you and your child are both safe and good
to go. NO late model car, NO new expensive child seat, NO smart phones and NO apps ever needed!
The above
lifesaving device is a particular case (for cars/motor vehicles) of the Patent
Pending Universal Forget-Me-Not device presented below.
For
a clear understanding of never4get.us being a Universal Forget-Me-Not device
and for consistency the chapter “For Cars” will be part of the following presentation.
Universal Forget-Me-Not
device
BACKGROUND
Technical Field of Invention: This invention relates to an alerting system with the
functionality to keep its user reminded in various environments.
Related Art is expensive, unreliable, with limited applicability and often
requires installation tools and skills and special conditions to function.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The various embodiments of this present
invention are designed to provide an inexpensive device which requires no
installation tools or skills and which will prevent people from forgetting
important items (including toddlers) in various environments including homes,
workplaces, hotel rooms and cars/motor vehicles.
In the embodiment
presented in Fig. 4 this invention can be used as a Universal Forget-Me-Not
device.
Notation: I shall
call the various embodiments of the apparatus of the present invention as
never4get.us (which reads “Never Forget Us!”).
DRAWINGS AND DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Fig. 1 shows the general electrical diagram
that covers all possible embodiments that will be described while Fig. 2 illustrates the practical
wireless version of Fig. 1 to be used anywhere but inside the motor vehicles.
Fig. 1 and its associated Logic Tables –Table A and Table B –
are designed to explain how the different embodiments of the Universal
Forget-Me-Not invention work.
The electrical circuit in Fig. 1 contains
four switches – S1, S2, S3 and S4 – a speaker (SPK1)/or buzzer, a
source/battery and a low-level-battery warning “V”.
NOTE that S2, S3 and S4 can also be
pressure/weight sensors but for a clear understanding of the Logic Tables below
we used switches in the electrical diagram.
The switches S1 (SPDT: Single Pole, Double
Throw), S2 (Normally Closed) and S3 (Normally Opened) are incorporated in a pad
which we’ll call Pad-D that will sense if any pressure is applied on it. When
pressure is applied on Pad-D S2 will open and S3 will close and, depending on
the position of S1 and S4 the Alarm (speaker/buzzer) will sound or not, as
explained in Tables A and B.
Table A corresponds to the electrical circuit
in Fig. 1 with S1 in the “A”
position when the NCS (Normally Closed Switch) S2 is active in the circuit
while S3 is not.
Table B corresponds to the electrical circuit
in Fig. 1 with S1 in the “B” position when the NOS (Normally Open Switch) S3 is
active in the circuit while S2 is not.
The NOS (Normally Open Switch) S4 (which,
again, can also be a pressure/weight sensor) is incorporated in a pad that
we’ll call Pad-C. Pad-C is designed to sense if anything is placed on it: when
any weight is placed (or any pressure applied) on Pad-C that will close S4.
Both Pad-C and Pad-D can have a rectangular
shape the size of a credit card so they can be comfortably carried in a pocket.
Here is how the apparatus described in this
invention works: The user will place anything that she doesn’t want to forget
(in her home, or office, or hotel room) on Pad-C.
Then:
S1A. With S1 in position A she will place
something on Pad-D that she can’t possibly leave her house without, like her
car/home keys, which will open S2. When she picks up her keys the Alarm will
remind her to also pick up the object placed on Pad-C.
Or
S1Bi. With S1 in the B position Pad-D will
actually be a sticky/magnetic band stuck on the exit door’s interior knob so
when she will open the door to exit she will have to press the band on the knob
which will close S3 and the Alarm will sound if there is anything on Pad-C.
S1Bii. With S1 in the B position Pad-D will actually
be a doormat placed in front of the exit door inside the room so when she will
open the door to exit she will step on the doormat which will close S3 and the
Alarm will sound if there is anything on Pad-C.
The practical versions of this invention are particular/simplified
versions of the electrical circuit in Fig. 1.
FOR CARS:
Fig. 3 presents the simplified/particular
version of Fig. 1 that will perfectly work in cars while Fig. 4 discloses the wireless version of Fig. 3. The product, as
presented in Fig. 4, can be used as a Universal Forget-Me-Not device.
The electrical circuit in Fig. 3 is a
particular (simplified) case of the circuit in Fig. 1 where S1 and S3 were
eliminated. S1 and S3 can be there, with S1 in position A, but why inflate the
price of the product?
Fig. 4 depicts the wireless version of Fig.3
where: Pad-C contains the NOS (or weight/pressure sensor), battery, LED (for
battery level) and a Transmitter while Pad-D contains the NCS, Battery, LED,
Speaker and Receiver.
This is how never4get.us functions in this
embodiment: Pad-C will be placed (like a seat cover) on the Child seat and
whenever a toddler is strapped on the Child seat his weight will close the NOS.
Pad-D will be placed on the Driver seat and when the driver is seating on his
seat it will open the NCS which will keep the Alarm silent, as presented in
Table A. When the Driver stops the car and exits the alarm will sound the very
second she removes her weight from Pad-D (again, as presented in Table A)
alerting her that her child is inside the car on Pad-C. Note that in the baby-in-the car
circumstances the alarm’s sound doesn’t have to be an annoying noise; a lullaby
song that will not bother even a sleeping child will perfectly do the
job. Or, for the drivers (or kids) that are too sensitive to sounds, the
sound device can be replaced by emergency lights (similar to police strobe
lights that are known to get any driver’s attention) inside the vehicle.
Obviously when no child is in the car the
driver can place anything she doesn’t want to forget inside the car on Pad-C:
the briefcase with the presentation for the meeting she’s heading to, the
present for the birthday party she is going to and so on.
This version, with multiple Pad-C’s (for each
child seat), can be extremely useful – and, in many cases, lifesaving -- in School
Busses or Daycare Vans. Pad-D will be on the Driver’s seat. In the electrical
diagram the Pad-C’s (i.e., their corresponding Normally Open Switches) will all
be in parallel so the driver will always be aware whether there is
anything/anybody left on one or more of the Pad-C’s.
NOTE that the wireless version depicted in Fig. 4 can be used anywhere,
not only in cars. People don’t leave their home, office or hotel room without
must-have items such as their keys and/or their wallet and/or their cell phone and/or,
in ladies’ case, their purse and so on. If they place their “must have item/s”
on the Pad-D then they can’t possible forget anything that has been placed on
Pad-C as Table A shows.
FOR HOME, OFFICE OR HOTEL ROOM:
The most practical version will replace S1,
S2 and S3 from Pad-D with a Motion Detector and I’ll call the new Pad-D as
Pad-DwMDS (i.e., Pad-D with a Motion Detector Sensor), as seen in Fig. 2. The
ensemble will be wireless with a NOS (or weight/pressure sensor), battery, LED
(for battery level) and a Transmitter in Pad-C and Battery, LED, Speaker,
Motion Detector (most likely a vibration sensor) and Receiver in Pad-DwMDS.
NOTE: In this description by Motion Detector
Sensor I mean a sensor that will detect the motion of the object it is incorporated
in. Examples: inertial sensor, accelerometer, vibration sensor.
This time the Pad-DwMDS is attached to the
car and/or home key ring: when the user will leave her home she will have to
grab her keys and the motion detector will activate the Alarm* if there is
anything on pad-C.
*For instance a Vibration
Sensor is an open switch when everything is still but when there is motion it
will act like a close switch, as detailed in Table B1.
The Pad-DwMDS (the whole ensemble, with the
chain and ring, like in Fig. 2) can be removed from the key ring and hanged by
the exit door’s interior knob with a simple rubber band (see Fig. 2) so the
user can’t possible exit her house (or hotel room, or office) without being
reminded that there is something on Pad-C. If never4get.us is used for home
only then the Pad-DwMDS can be permanently placed on the exit door. If the home
owner can leave the house through multiple doors (such as front door, garage
door or back/side door) then multiple Pad-DwMDS can be used, as needed.
Note that the configuration in Fig. 2 with
Pad-DwMDS acts like the electrical circuit in Fig. 1 with S1 in position B,
that’s why Table B1 is identical to Table B – because the configuration in Fig.
2 is just a particular case of the Universal Forget-Me-Not diagram in Fig. 1.
This is the most reliable and inexpensive
Forget-Me-Not device possible: Flip a light switch ON and OFF 10,000 times and
the light will turn ON and OFF 10,000 times without one miss -- that’s the
beauty of simplicity.
