Seat belt designs to protect pregnant vehicle occupants

Various restraint systems to protect vehicle occupants in case of an accident have been specifically designed for pregnant women and the ideas are filed for patents. The concepts cover a wide range of designs; from ‘add-on’ to standard 3-point seat belt solutions to relatively complex mechatronics applications. Auxiliary tools and equipments to offer lap belt solutions constitute the majority of the reviewed patents. Designs also vary according to their working principles. Some designs exclusively focus on the lap belt part of the seat belt, whereas some others attempt to resolve the problem from a broader perspective, offering overall seat belt solutions with or without the use of standard seat belt. In this article around forty patented ideas on seat belt designs for pregnant women are reviewed, classified and presented, highlighting the working principles and inventors’ claims.