Granted Patent B2

US 12,514,381 · App. 18/446,181 · Granted Jan 6, 2026

Inventors: James Castro-Griffiths (London, GB); David Connell (London, GB)

Assignee: Willow Blossom Holdco Limited

A47D9/02A61B5/0077A61B5/1116A61B5/7405A61B5/742

Abstract

Claims (58)

1 . A computer-implemented method of monitoring a condition of a soothing seat for an infant, comprising:

receiving, at a processor, an input from an electronic sensor of the soothing seat,

wherein the soothing seat comprises a support frame connecting to a base portion and rotatable relative to the base portion about a horizontal axis between a flat configuration and a bouncing configuration, and

wherein the input is indicative of an orientation of the soothing seat about the horizontal axis;

receiving, at the processor, one or more pre-determined parameters indicative of the orientation of the soothing seat being in an actionable state;

determining based on the input from the electronic sensor and the one or more pre-determined parameters that the orientation of the soothing seat is in the actionable state;

controlling an output to implement a remedial action;

receiving, at the processor, a second input from a second electronic sensor;

determining based on the second input whether the infant within the soothing seat is asleep; and

upon determining that the infant is asleep, automatically controlling the support frame to the flat configuration.

2 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the output to implement the remedial action comprises driving an electromechanical drive to apply oscillating motions to the soothing seat.

3 . The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the electromechanical drive comprises one or more of an electric motor, a drive screw, a pneumatic actuator, or a hydraulic actuator.

4 . The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein driving the electromechanical drive to apply the oscillating motions to the soothing seat comprises applying one or more of a bouncing motion, a rocking motion, and a swinging motion.

5 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

monitoring the input of the electronic sensor;

determining based on the input from the electronic sensor and the one or more predetermined parameters that the orientation of the soothing seat is no longer in the actionable state; and

controlling the output to stop implementing the remedial action.

6 . The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein controlling the output to stop implementing the remedial action comprises gradually reducing an amplitude of oscillating motions applied to the soothing seat.

7 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the electronic sensor comprises a switch and/or a position sensor.

8 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the electronic sensor comprises a switch and/or a position sensor configured to determine a position of one or more components of the soothing seat comprising the support frame and the base portion.

9 . The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein the one or more components comprises a seat rotatably mounted to the support frame.

10 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the output to implement the remedial action comprises controlling a speaker to produce an audio signal.

11 . The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein the audio signal comprises one or more of white noise, music, or pre-recorded sounds.

12 . The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein the audio signal comprises a user-recorded audio recording.

13 . The computer-implemented method of claim 12 , further comprising:

displaying on a user device a prompt for a user to record the user-recorded audio recording; and

recording the user from a microphone.

14 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the output to implement the remedial action comprises preventing a change of position of one or more components of the soothing seat comprising the support frame and the base portion.

15 . The computer-implemented method of claim 14 , wherein preventing the change of position comprises locking the one or more components of the soothing seat in position.

16 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the processor is a processor of a server or a user device physically separate from and in wired or wireless communication with the soothing seat.

17 . The soothing seat, comprising:

a seat;

the support frame and the base portion of claim 1 ;

a non-transitory computer readable medium; and

one or more electronic sensors, and wherein the processor is configured to perform the method of claim 1 .

18 . A computer-implemented method of monitoring a condition of a soothing seat for an infant, comprising:

receiving, at a processor, an input from a weight sensor of the soothing seat;

receiving, at the processor, an upper threshold weight and a lower threshold weight each being indicative of the soothing seat being in an actionable state, the upper threshold weight indicating the soothing seat being in an overloaded state;

determining based on the input from the weight sensor, the upper threshold, and the lower threshold that the soothing seat is in the actionable state;

controlling an output to implement a remedial action;

receiving, at the processor, a second input from a second electronic sensor fixed to the soothing seat indicative of whether the soothing seat is positioned at an angle with respect to a level surface; and

if the soothing seat is positioned at the angle with respect to the level surface, controlling the output to prevent the remedial action to be implemented.

19 . The computer-implemented method of claim 18 , wherein the actionable state is when the input is greater than the lower threshold weight and less than the upper threshold weight.

20 . The computer-implemented method of claim 19 , wherein controlling the output to implement the remedial action comprises driving an electromechanical drive to apply oscillating motions to the soothing seat.

21 . The computer-implemented method of claim 20 , further comprising:

monitoring the input of the weight sensor;

determining based on the input from the weight sensor, the lower threshold weight, and the upper threshold weight that the soothing seat is no longer in the actionable state; and

controlling the output to stop implementing the remedial action.

22 . The computer-implemented method of claim 18 , wherein the actionable state is when the input is greater than the upper threshold weight, and controlling the output to implement the remedial action comprises preventing a change of position of one or more components of the soothing seat.

23 . A computer-implemented method of monitoring a condition of a soothing seat for an infant, comprising:

receiving, at a processor, a first input from an electronic sensor of the soothing seat, the input indicative of a position of a harness of the soothing seat;

receiving, at the processor, a second input indicative of a position of the soothing seat;

controlling an output to implement an action based on the first input from the electronic sensor and the second input;

receiving, at the processor, a second input from a second electronic sensor;

determining based on the second input whether the infant within the soothing seat is asleep; and

upon determining that the infant is asleep, controlling the output to prevent the remedial action to be implemented.

24 . The computer-implemented method of claim 23 , wherein when the soothing seat is in a flat configuration and the harness is in a covering position covering a first portion of the soothing seat, the action comprises providing an alert to a user.

25 . The computer-implemented method of claim 24 , wherein when the soothing seat is in a bouncing configuration and the harness is in a retracted position not covering a second portion of the soothing seat, the action comprises preventing an electromechanical drive to apply oscillating motions to the soothing seat.

Assignments (2)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (68)