It didn’t take long for a curious toddler to figure out how to unclasp the seat belt buckle that held her car seat in place.
And it didn’t take long for that toddler’s mother to figure out a way to keep that from ever happening again.
Patricia Mandarino of Spring Hill has created Angel Guard, a small squarish plastic widget that covers belt latches and makes them impossible to unbuckle.
Mandarino said she was surprised when she talked to other parents. Their kids had unbuckled themselves in the car as well.
Mandarino marched into Target, Wal-Mart, and any other store she could think of looking for something to cover the seat belt. She knew what she was looking for: It had to cover the latch, and it should be simple enough to slip on and off - but not easy enough for children to remove.
At the stores, Mandarino found nothing. At home, she searched online. Nothing.
Mandarino visited Bob Belzer, president of American Plastic in Clearwater. She walked into his office with a pair of plastic cups taped together at the ends. The two of them came up with several prototypes - which she tested on cars at the Cadillac dealership - before honing in on a design.
In the coming months, the housewife turned inventor plans to crank up her marketing campaign, attending trade shows in Orlando and Las Vegas.
Photo by Future 1st LLC.
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