Apple looks to reinvent seatbelt buckles

Ro, 20 June 2023

Although Apple is still reluctant to confirm that it's building a car, the company has been working on numerous car-related technologies. The latest one to be patented is about the good old seat belt buckles. The patent itself is called "Restraint with an indicator area".

Essentially, Apple wants to put a light indicator inside the buckle to provide you with some status information. The patent describes a translucent surface of the button or tiny holes letting the light through. The clip will light up when it's needed so you can easily find the buckle. Once the seat belt tongue is inserted, the light goes off, serving as an indication that the seat belt is successfully locked.

Skoda's smart seat belt has a similar function

And once the car is stopped and turned off, the LED indicator will light up again. The light indicator is described as red so it fits the current standard for red buttons on the clip in today's cars.

Via

Reader comments

Azie

I thought we have indicator on the main panel of EVERY car (most of them beeping like crazy) if any seatbelts are not buckled for taken seats. LOL. Technically noone looks at the buckles EVER, it's such a basic movement to buckle them.